


Stay

by AyePatch



Series: Stay [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: And what Yang went through adds to her abandonment issues, Blake isn't the only one who was abused in this fic, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Fuck you Goatman, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Liveaboard meaning they live on boats, Mutual Pining, The Bumbleby liveaboard AU nobody asked for, This is gonna be a sloooww burn folx, so much pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26641150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyePatch/pseuds/AyePatch
Summary: Stay: A strong rope supporting a mast.After pulling a half-drowned cat faunus from the water, Yang Xiao Long offers her a place to stay while she gets back on her feet. Soon, though, she finds herself growing closer to her new boatmate… and saddened at the thought of the day she is no longer needed. Will Blake be just another person who walks off with a piece of Yang's long-ago-broken heart? Or is it possible that Yang doesn't *need* to be needed after all? Could simply being *wanted* be enough for Blake to stay?
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Series: Stay [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012470
Comments: 175
Kudos: 309





	1. All the Best Fairy Tales...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yang's sailboat is based on a Catalina 36 MkII. If you want to know what the cabin area looks like, check here:
> 
> https://imgur.com/a/7CyAyog

_July 28th._

_11:17 am: Departed Beacon Marina for cruise before evening party._

_11:43 am: Exited Vale Harbor. Turned off engine and set sails._

_11:51 am: Passed South Vale Light, turned southwest towards open water._

_3:38 pm: Lost sight of land_

The sound of a faint cry made Yang Xiao Long look up from the entry she was making in her logbook. Standing up, she made her way along the catwalk of her 36 foot sailboat, _Bumblebee_ , to the front deck, and scanned the ocean for the source of the noise, raising her right hand to shade her eyes from the afternoon sun. Wincing at the glare from the painted metal of the prosthetic— she still wasn't used to that yet— she raised her left hand instead.

"Help!"

Yang looked to her left, where the feeble cry had come from, and saw a young woman struggling to stay afloat in the water. Instantly, she sprang into action. "Hang on!" She called out, rushing back to the stern of the boat to unhook the life preserver from the railing. "Grab this!" She grunted as she threw the ring as hard as she could, careful not to aim directly at the struggling woman. Once she saw it land in the water a few feet away from her, she grabbed the helm and turned _Bumblebee_ directly into the wind, the boat coming to a halt as the sails luffed uselessly. A glance back towards the woman in the water confirmed that she had grabbed on to the life preserver, and Yang put down the ladder at the stern of the boat before grabbing the line attached to it and reeling the woman in. "Are you going to be able to climb in on your own?" She asked once the woman was only a few feet away.

The woman gave a small nod and let go of the life preserver with one hand to grab the ladder. Yang waited patiently until the woman had fully released the ring and had a firm grip on the ladder before she reeled it the rest of the way in and hung it back up on its hook. She turned around just in time to see the woman collapse in a heap in the cockpit, gasping for breath. "Woah, hey!" Yang called out, rushing over to kneel down next to her. "Are you okay?!"

The woman nodded weakly.

"Should I call the Coast Guard?"

The woman shook her head. With a pained groan, she managed to roll over on her back and push herself up into a sitting position against the transom, pressing her left hand against her stomach, just above her left hip. "I'll be fine," she croaked. "Just… need to catch my breath."

Now that she was sitting up, Yang could finally get a good look at this mystery woman. She was a faunus, with black cat ears pressed flat against her long, tangled black hair. Her skin was olive in complexion, or it would have been, if it didn't currently have an almost deathly pallor. The way her wet clothes clung to her showed that she was thin— unhealthily so— and she had dark circles under her bloodshot amber eyes. And yet, in spite of all this, she was undeniably beautiful.

"So, how'd you wind up in this predicament?" Yang asked softly.

"I…" The woman shook her head and drew her knees up to her chest.

"Long story?" Yang guessed.

The woman nodded. "Yeah." Something in her voice told Yang that she wanted it to be left at that.

"Well, I guess it's not something I really need to know," Yang conceded with a shrug. An expression that almost looked like confusion flashed across the woman's face, but it was gone as quickly as it came, and Yang didn't want to pry. She held out her right hand. "I'm Yang."

The woman's eyes widened as she noticed the prosthetic, and Yang felt her cheeks redden self-consciously. With a nervous chuckle, she reached back to rub the back of her neck and offered her left hand instead.

The woman hesitated, before reaching out with her own left hand to grab and shake Yang's. Yang noticed that her right hand quickly moved to cover the same spot on her stomach that her left had been. "Blake." Her grip was surprisingly firm given the state she was in.

Yang glanced at where Blake's hand was covering her stomach. "Are you hurt?" She asked.

Blake shook her head. "Just a stitch in my side. I was out there a while."

Yang nodded. "Can you stand? We should get you into the cabin and find you some dry clothes."

"I think so," Blake said. She reached up to brace her left hand on the top of the transom, and tried to pick herself up, yelping as her arm gave out and she collapsed back on the deck. Yang rushed forward, hand outstretched to help, but Blake's eyes went wide and she flinched visibly. Yang put her hand down.

"Is it okay if I touch you?" She asked softly.

Blake gave a small shake of her head, breathing heavily, though whether it was from the startle of her fall or whatever had caused her to cower when Yang had stepped forward, Yang couldn't say.

"Okay," Yang said, holding up her hands placatingly and taking a step back. "Just… please be careful."

Blake nodded, and tried to stand again, still refusing to move her right hand from her stomach. This time, she managed to get to her feet, but the rocking of the boat threw her off balance and she staggered into the starboard railing, instinctively reaching out with both hands to catch herself. It was then that Yang finally saw what Blake had been trying to hide.

Her shirt had a hole ripped in it, and though it was difficult to tell with the soaked, dark fabric, the area around it seemed to be stained with something that might have been blood. Through the hole, Yang could see what looked like a very, _very_ fresh scab on Blake's skin.

"Holy shit," she gasped softly, "you _are_ hurt."

Blake's eyes widened in fear, and she tried to back away, but found herself already pressed firmly against the railing.

Immediately, Yang held up her hands once more and took two steps back. "Hey, you don't need to tell me what happened," she said gently, "but could you at least tell me if you need medical attention?"

Blake had relaxed somewhat as Yang stepped back, but now she stood with an almost bewildered expression as she shook her head. "I'll… I'll be fine. It isn't bleeding anymore." She took a step forward, steadier on her feet now. "Why are… You're not even curious about what happened?"

"Of course I'm curious," Yang admitted. "But you don't need to tell me if you don't want to. You don't owe me anything, Blake."

Blake's expression changed to one of utter shock, and Yang felt her heart ache. Why was this woman so surprised that Yang was respecting her boundaries?

"You saved my _life_ ," Blake said slowly, as if struggling to understand, "and I 'don't owe you anything'??"

"Yup," Yang said matter-of-factly, even as her heart cracked in two for this poor woman.

Blake took another step forward. "But… you _saved_ my _life_." 

"So?" Yang asked softly. "That doesn't entitle me to anything. Besides," she added, daring a bit of levity, "kinda takes the fun out of getting your life saved if you have to spend the rest of it being controlled by some random stranger you just met!"

Something unreadable crossed Blake's face. "Yeah. It does," she murmured, and Yang wasn't sure if she'd been supposed to hear. For a moment, nothing could be heard except the lapping of waves against the hull and the luffing of the sails, then a gust of wind blew through and Blake shivered, her cat ears flicking.

"Hey, let me show you around below decks," Yang said, reminded of why she'd asked Blake to stand in the first place. "It'll be warmer down there, and we really need to get you into some dry clothes." Blake nodded, and Yang led her into the cabin.

 _Bumblebee_ 's cabin was fairly spacious for a sailboat of her size. From the cockpit, a small, four-step ladder led down into the main area. To the port side at the base of the ladder was a small, u-shaped kitchen area with a sink at the front, a stove and a microwave along the side, and three hatches set into the counter, two back-to-back to the left of the stove and the third to the right. "That's the galley," Yang explained, gesturing towards it. "The fridge is in the two hatches to the left of the stove. Help yourself to it once you've changed. You must be starving."

Blake only gave a small nod in response.

"Seriously," Yang said, sensing Blake might need further encouragement, " _please_ get yourself something to eat. I _really_ don't mind."

Blake still hesitated, before finally nodding slowly. "Okay, I will."

"Promise?" Yang asked gently.

Blake gave a feeble smile. "Promise." 

Yang took a half step forward and stopped again."Oh!" She added. "We won't have electricity until we're back at the marina, so try not to keep the fridge open _too_ too long. There's some ice in there for now, but it'll be a few hours before we get back. There's a guest bedroom under the back deck if you need a nap, by the way. Door's starboard of the ladder." She patted a door on the back wall of the cabin.

"Starboard?" Blake asked, cocking her head curiously, her cat ears flopping a little to the side in a way that Yang found utterly adorable.

"Right, it's easy enough to explain." Yang faced forwards, her back towards Blake, and raised her right arm. "Starboard is the side of the boat that's on the right when you're facing forward. Port is the side on the left." She turned back around to face Blake. "Because it's relative to the direction of the boat, not you, it's always the same. So even though my right is now _this_ way…" she raised her right arm, now pointing at the galley, to demonstrate, then lowered it. " _That_ side…" she raised her left arm now, "is still starboard."

Blake nodded slowly.

"The easy way to remember is that 'port' and 'left' both have four letters."

"I suppose that makes some degree of sense," Blake offered.

Directly opposite the galley on the starboard side was a small, built-in desk with a chair tucked underneath it. Taking up the bulk of the main cabin were two seating areas, one to starboard with two seats on either end of a small table that folded against the side of the hull, and the other to port consisting of a long, L-shaped couch and a larger table that folded up against a wall towards the bow. Narrow windows ran along the top of the cabin just below the ceiling on either side, and glass hatches in the ceiling also let in light. Below the windows were four small cabinets, one set in each corner of the main seating area, and a small shelf in between them on each side.

"There's a bunch of old books on the shelves there if you need something to keep you busy," Yang pointed out as she led Blake forward through the seating area. "The head's on the port side just behind this wall if you need it." She patted the wall that the larger table was folded against.

"The… head?" Blake asked, cocking her head once again, and once again Yang was struck by just how _cute_ she looked when she did that.

"Bathroom."

"Ah."

"And here's my room, the v-berth." Yang opened the door to the head and stepped inside to allow Blake past her into the triangle-shaped room at the very bow of the boat. "Closet's on the starboard side, get yourself changed into something dry. I'll leave a blanket on the couch for you if you need it to warm up."

Blake nodded and started to step into the v-berth before suddenly freezing, her ears pinning as a guilty expression crossed her face. "I… I'm so sorry. I just realized I never actually said 'thank you' for all this."

Yang waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it!" She cracked a smile. "Besides, it's not every day a beautiful catfish flops onto my back deck _on_ my birthday! You make a pretty good present, Blake." With a wink, she turned on her heel and made her way aft back towards the cockpit, swaying her hips perhaps a bit more than usual and leaving behind a very stunned and _very_ red cat faunus in her wake.

* * *

Yang returned to the cockpit after laying a neatly folded blanket on the couch, as promised. _Bumblebee_ had obediently remained as she had been left, still pointed directly into the wind with her sails luffing. Yang put the ladder at the stern back up, before turning the helm all the way to port and reaching up, pushing the boom to the side so that the mainsail could catch the wind. Slowly, as she was pushed backwards, _Bumblebee_ began to turn, until at last the wind caught the jib and Yang let go of the boom, ducking as it swung across to the other side and the mainsail filled with wind. They were underway once more.

Turning on her GPS, she steered to a northeast heading while she waited for it to boot. Once the map appeared on screen, she adjusted course slightly to line up with the South Vale Lighthouse. Satisfied with her heading, she worked the various winches and cranks set around the cockpit to trim the sails, and _Bumblebee_ began to pick up speed. Soon, she was cruising along at a brisk pace, leaning to starboard as her bow kicked up a healthy wake. Yang couldn't stop herself from grinning as the wind tugged at her hair and the ocean spray tickled her cheeks. It wasn't long, though, before she became lost in thought.

She'd just pulled a complete stranger from the middle of the ocean. A very attractive stranger at that, not that it mattered. But what concerned her the most was _how_ Blake had wound up in the water in the first place. And not only in the water, but in the water _without_ a life jacket, _and_ with a nasty stomach wound to boot.

The most obvious answer would have been that she had fallen overboard, and perhaps injured herself in the process. But if that was the case, then why hadn't she been picked up by whatever boat she'd fallen off of? Of course, it was possible that if she'd fallen from a larger vessel like a ferry her absence might not have been noticed, but this was far away from any major ferry or other commercial shipping route. Even charter vessels rarely went this way.

No, the fact that Blake had wound up in the middle of the ocean, far away from anywhere that boat traffic would be likely to go, with no floatation device, and a stomach wound, was starting to paint a much more sinister picture…

Her thoughts were interrupted by Blake climbing out of the cabin and into the cockpit, Yang's blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders, an open box of saltines in one hand and a book in the other. She moved to sit on one of the benches that ran along either side of the cockpit but lost her balance, letting out an adorable squeak of alarm as she landed heavily on the cushion. Evidently the poor girl hadn't grown her sea legs yet. Yang couldn't help but smile. "Wasn't expecting you to come back out."

Blake smiled at her and shrugged. "I missed the view."

Yang waved her hand, turning to hide her face with mock coyness. "Oh, stop it, you," she muttered jokingly. 

Blake gave her an unimpressed look. "I _meant_ the view of the _ocean_ ," she said dryly. After a moment though, a small blush tinted her cheeks and she glanced away nervously. "But… I suppose you're not too bad yourself."

Yang had _not_ been prepared for Blake to actually flirt back, and she reached up to nervously rub the back of her neck as she felt her cheeks start to burn. "You, ah, you're… pretty good too." She managed to say.

Blake's expression fell, and Yang's heart with it. Had she overstepped?

"That's not true at all," Blake muttered.

Yang felt her heart twist painfully. _Why_ did this beautiful woman have such a low opinion of herself? Unsure of how to proceed, she fell back to her usual way of trying to cheer people up. Humor. "Are you suggesting I have poor taste?" She gasped dramatically. 

"If you find _me_ attractive you do," Blake said, but the blush on her cheeks and the faintest hint of a smile tugging at her lips encouraged Yang to press forward.

Yang threw her hand to her chest and comically stumbled back a step, an expression of mock outrage plastered on her face. "What a cruel and baseless accusation against my honor!" 

This, at least, earned an entertained smirk and an eye roll from Blake, which Yang counted as a small victory. Shaking her head in amusement, Blake held up the book she'd been holding, titled _The Girl in the Tower, and other fairy tales_. "Aren't you a little old for fairy tales?" She asked teasingly, and Yang made note of the change of subject.

"I used to read them to my little sister, Ruby, before bed," Yang explained. "We both loved the adventure. Stories of heroes and villains, princesses and knights in shining armor. When we were little, we wanted to grow up to be like the heroes in the books, fighting monsters and rescuing damsels in distress." She sighed. "It was so easy to just see the good in the world back then."

Blake hummed in thought. "Well, I suppose I _am_ technically a damsel, and I _was_ in distress, and you _did_ rescue me, so…" Blake cracked a wry smile. "My hero?"

"Does that make _this_ my shining armor?" Yang asked, grinning and raising her prosthetic.

Blake narrowed her eyes. "If that was a pun I swear I'm jumping back in the water."

"It might have been," Yang dismissed with a shrug, though she knew her shit-eating grin gave her away. "Anyways I keep it around as a reminder of the simpler times. And… to make sure I don't forget to look for the good that I saw so easily as a kid. It's still there, it's just… easier to miss once you start noticing all the stuff around it."

"I wish I still had your youthful optimism," Blake muttered with an almost bitter tone. "I learned a long time ago that the real world isn't like the fairy tales. Hoping for a happily ever after is just an easy way to get hurt."

Yang sighed, before an idea crossed her mind. "Blake, may I ask you two questions?" She asked, her voice softening as she added, "you don't have to answer either if you don't want to, okay?"

Hesitantly, Blake nodded.

"Okay, question one. How old are you?"

Blake narrowed her eyes slightly. "Twenty three?"

"Me too."

"Oh!" Blake's expression brightened a little, but it looked forced. "I assume you just turned today, then?"

"Yup!"

"Right. Happy birthday, by the way." In spite of Blake's slightly forced cheer, the sentiment itself seemed genuine.

"Thanks!" Yang smiled, before returning to the topic she had been on. "Question two. Do you read much?"

Blake's ears perked up in confusion. "It's pretty much all I ever do, why?"

Yang looked around to make sure that the sea around them was clear before letting go of the helm and making her way to the seat next to Blake, pausing to give her the chance to move away, and sitting down with a respectful distance between them when she didn't. "Blake," she said gently, "you and I are only a quarter of the way through our lives. I don't read that much anymore, so you tell me; how often do you know for sure how a story's gonna end when you're only a quarter of the way through?"

Blake's ears drooped. "I… not very often, I guess."

"So why are you so sure you know how _your_ story ends?" She paused, reaching over and beckoning for Blake to hand her the book. Blake obliged, and Yang sat back down, opening the book a quarter of the way through. "Maybe you get a happily ever after," she said, beginning to leaf through the book page by page, "or maybe you don't. But either way I feel like it's probably a little too soon to tell. And if you spend the whole time worrying about it…" she got to the last page and gave a soft smile as she held it up for Blake to see. "You'll find you reached the end without enjoying any of the good parts."

Yang watched as Blake seemed to fight a lengthy internal battle, and she found herself mesmerized by the motion of her cat ears as they flicked about in accordance with her thoughts. She forced herself to tear her eyes away. It was rude to stare, especially so for a human to stare at a faunus's trait, and Yang didn't want to offend or worse, upset the woman before her. Instead, she simply smiled and watched her patiently. Eventually, Blake looked up at her and gave a small, appreciative smile. 

Yang waited for a moment to see if Blake would say anything, before standing up and making her way towards the hatch to the cabin. "I'm gonna make myself a sandwich. Yell if we're about to hit something. We've got a bit before we get into the busy areas around the harbor though, so I'm not too worried. I can make you one too, if you want something that'll be a bit more filling than those crackers?"

Blake hesitated for several moments before finally, timidly, she asked, "Do… do you have tuna?"

Yang smiled softly. "One tuna sandwich, coming right up."


	2. Helping Each Other

Yang returned after several minutes with their sandwiches, and Blake smiled gratefully as she took hers. She took a bite and glanced up at Yang, as if asking for permission to continue eating, and Yang felt her heart ache once more. "You don't need my permission to eat your sandwich, silly," she said softly.

Blake's ears flattened a little as she blushed, and she took another hesitant bite. After a moment though, her hunger finally seemed to get the better of her nervousness, and she began to ravenously chow down on her sandwich.

Yang smiled, taking a few bites of her own sandwich while she waited patiently for Blake to finish eating before she asked, "so, what should I do with you once we get back to the marina?"

Blake tensed, her ears pinning back to her skull. "What do you mean?"

Yang wasn't exactly sure what had upset Blake, but it was a question that needed to be answered. Cautiously, her voice soft, she pressed on. "Do you have anybody I should bring you to? Friends? Family? A partn—"

"No!" Blake exploded, suddenly standing and throwing up her arms in frustration. "I have _nobody_! I have _nowhere_ to go! I have _nothing_ except a ruined shirt, and a soaked pair of jeans!" She sat back down and crossed her arms, slumping as the fight left her body. "And I _guess_ my life, not that it's worth much," she muttered. 

Yang didn't respond right away. She _couldn't_. She had no idea what to say. Though, as Blake's expression shifted from resigned exhaustion to panicked guilt, she realized that staying silent may have been the _worst_ thing she could have done.

Blake's eyes welled with tears as she looked away. "I'm sorry," she said, her tone sounding almost frightened. "I had no right to yell at you like that. You saved me, and here I am being bitter and nasty." Her voice cracked, though whether from sadness or fear Yang couldn't tell. It might have been both. "I'm sorry."

Yang forced down the tightness in her throat and sat down across from Blake. They were still about an hour out from where she would need to seriously start keeping a lookout for other boats, and _Bumblebee_ was holding her heading nicely. At the moment, monitoring the helm was less important than comforting Blake. "Hey," she said softly, and Blake sniffed as she looked up, eyes still glistening with unshed tears. "You have nothing to apologize for. You're stressed, you're tired, you're hurt… I completely understand. I know you're not angry at _me_." Blake's ears perked up ever so slightly, and Yang added, "And I know you may _think_ you have nothing, but I promise you, you _don't_."

"How would _you_ know?" Blake asked, more than a hint of bitterness in her tone. Again, she gasped and opened her mouth to apologize, but Yang cut her off with a warm smile.

"Because you have me."

Blake's eyes widened in shock. "You??"

"Well, yeah. I've got a spare bedroom right under here, remember?" Yang tapped her foot on the deck for emphasis. "You can stay with me until you can get back on your feet!"

"On… on the boat??" Blake asked, ears flicking forward in confusion.

Yang smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I know she's a little unusual as far as homes go, but she's mine." She pushed past her embarrassment and smiled gently. "And, if you need her, she's yours, too."

Blake looked down at her feet and shook her head, struggling to process that information. "I… you…" Finally, she tilted her head up just enough to look at Yang, as if she was fearful that full eye contact would break whatever magic was going on. "Y–you'd just… do that for me??"

Yang gave her a lopsided smile. "I'd be a pretty lousy knight in shining armor if I pulled you from the ocean only to turn around and dump you on the streets of Vale to fend for yourself, wouldn't I?"

Blake said nothing as the tears in her eyes began to roll down her cheeks. Sniffing, she reached up to wipe them away, before letting out a choked sob and burying her face in her hands, shoulders shaking. Hesitantly, Yang stood up. 

"Hey," she said as she crossed over to sit down on Blake's right, as much to catch her attention as to let her know she was moving. "I know you didn't want me to touch you earlier, but do you want a hug?"

Blake shook her head.

"Okay." Yang put her hand down on the cushion between them, careful to avoid touching Blake. "My hand's on the cushion in between us if you want to hold—"

Instantly, Blake's hand shot out and grabbed Yang's, gripping so tightly it hurt. Yang winced, but she wasn't going to tell Blake to stop. Instead, she started to curl her own fingers around Blake's, her heart sinking as the faunus stiffened, her hand flinching away slightly. Yang immediately let go of Blake's hand, and watched as Blake looked up at her, eyes wide and tears still streaming down her cheeks, before glancing back down at Yang's hand and hesitantly grabbing it again.

This time, Yang simply relaxed her hand, allowing Blake to hold it without trying to hold Blake's in return. Yang wished she could provide more than just a passive comfort to Blake, but she had the feeling that Blake needed the contact to be entirely on her own terms, with nothing that could possibly prevent her from breaking away. Regardless, Blake's painfully tight grip on Yang's hand seemed to be helping her. Slowly, her sobs grew quieter, eventually dying down to whimpers and finally sniffles. She looked up at Yang and her hand lingered for just a moment before pulling away. "Thank you," she whispered.

Yang smiled softly. "Any time, Blake. I mean it. I know we've only just met, but I'm here for you."

Blake wiped her eyes and smiled.

"Here, I'm gonna get something to drink. You have a preference?"

"Anything that's cold," Blake replied, and Yang felt her heart warm slightly at the fact that Blake hadn't tried to push the offer away.

"Sunflower Pop okay?"

Blake's eyes lit up a little. "I love those!"

"Great!" Yang ducked into the cabin and grabbed a pair of bottles from the fridge before returning to the cockpit and handing one to Blake. Yang took the seat behind the helm, sitting to the side so that she had a clear line of sight to her new boatmate. "We're gonna need to do some shopping tomorrow," she said, opening her bottle and taking a sip. "Stock up on food you like, pick you up some clothes… My shirts will be big on you but that's not the end of the world, and I have _plenty_ , but we _should_ get you some stuff of your own... pants are a bit different though, I don't have that many and mine will probably be too tight once you start to—"

"Yang."

"Yes?" Yang looked up to see Blake staring at her, ears pinned back in distress.

"You _do_ realize that I can't pay for _any_ of that?" Blake asked, hands fidgeting in her lap.

"Then I'll cover it," Yang replied simply.

Blake shook her head desperately. "No! I— you already saved my life, _and_ you're giving me a place to stay! I…" she looked down at her feet and her shoulders sagged. "I'm already being too much of a burden as it is."

"I don't see it that way," Yang countered. "A responsibility, maybe, but not a burden." Her voice softened. "Blake, I really don't mind helping you out. If I wasn't in the position to do this for you, I wouldn't be offering to, okay?" She was pleased to see Blake respond with a small nod. "But," she continued, "fortunately, I _am_ in the position to do all this, and I _want_ to do it. I _want_ to help you. And you don't owe me for any of it, because it's just the right thing for me to do. You're not forcing me into anything. I'm doing this because I _choose_ to. And honestly? Just having someone to keep me company is payment enough." She noticed the look Blake was giving her and sighed. "But if you _really_ feel like it isn't, if you _really_ feel like you need to contribute something _tangible_ , something that _isn't_ 'just company', then I'd be happy to have you help me with my work."

Blake's ears pointed forward with interest. "Which is?"

"I'm Beacon Marina's unofficially-official mechanic!" Yang stated proudly, hopping to her feet to stand with one foot braced against the seat, thumb pointed confidently at her own chest. In her mind's eye, she imagined a large yellow flag with a gear, a wrench, and a screwdriver in the shape of a skull and crossbones unfurling behind her as her hair blew dramatically in the wind and her unbuttoned flannel billowed out behind her like a cape. Her antics drew another amused eye roll out of Blake, and Yang sat back down, victory achieved. "Almost everyone at the marina comes to me when they need something fixed, because they know me, I charge fair prices, and I'm already _conveniently_ located right inside the marina. And with a marina the size of Beacon, there's almost _always_ plenty of problems that need to be fixed. Hell, Jaune and Pyrrha's old cabin cruiser practically keeps me in business all on her own," she added, half to herself. "I can teach you to be my assistant! Help me with paperwork, maybe show you how to get your hands dirty too, if you want!"

Blake was sitting up now, a small smile on her face. It seemed like the idea of working with Yang had helped cheer her up, putting to rest the fear of being nothing more than dead weight. "So, you'd be my… boss?" She asked. "Mentor?"

"Partner," Yang said simply. "I don't want any title that would give me any kind of power over you. I'm not comfortable with being put on a pedestal. We have to be equals in this."

"Right," Blake murmured, as if the thought of being equals with someone was a foreign concept to her. "Equals."

"I get an assistant and some company, and you get a place to stay and some spending cash until you get back on your feet," Yang explained. "I'm not helping you, and you're not helping me. We're helping each other, okay?"

Blake nodded, hesitantly at first, then with more confidence. "Yeah. We're helping each other."

* * *

The trip back into the harbor was rather uneventful. They made good time, and as the sea around them began to fill with ships and boats of all shapes and sizes, Yang furled the sails, explaining the process to a very curious Blake as she did so, and returned to the cockpit to turn on the engine.

"Normally I'd keep the sails up a bit longer," she explained, pushing the throttle all the way open, "but it can start to get a little clumsy to maneuver once the harbor starts getting packed, and I'd rather get us settled back into our slip quickly. Sailboats that are, well, _sailing,_ are _supposed_ to have the right of way over powerboats, but the ferries and charter yachts never give a shit."

Blake nodded. "Never afraid to trample the little guy, huh?"

Yang felt her jaw tighten, and forced herself to relax. "Yup," she said, unable to keep the edge from her voice. "That's the way the world is sometimes."

Blake's face softened in concern. "Is everything okay?" She asked, sounding slightly worried.

Yang nodded. "Yeah. I just… have some experience with getting trampled." She shook her head, her voice softening. "Sorry, they're just rough memories. It's not your fault."

Blake nodded. "If you ever want someone to talk to… I'm here," she offered. "N–not that you have to, or anything!" She added urgently. "It's just— it's the least I can do."

Yang gave her an appreciative smile. For all her obvious pain and self-doubt, it was becoming clear that Blake had a heart of gold to match her eyes. Perhaps the whole 'windows to the soul' thing had some truth to it. "Thank you, Blake. That's good to know."

Blake gave her a small smile before asking timidly, "By the way… would you… mind, if we took a trip to the bookstore tomorrow too? You, uh… you don't really… _have_ … anything that I like." And there was that look in her eyes again. The one that almost looked like fear. "I–I'm not trying to criticize your taste or anything!" She added quickly, ears slicking back. "I j–just—"

"Blake," Yang interrupted softly, her chest feeling painfully tight. "Of course we can." Relief washed over Blake's entire body, and Yang felt the need to say something about it. "Hey, I know that me saying 'I'm not going to hurt you' is next to meaningless, but I really hope that I can _show_ you that I mean it someday."

Blake looked up at her, ears flat and an unreadable expression on her face.

"I don't know exactly what you've gone through," Yang continued carefully, "but I can tell that you've been through hell. And whatever it was, I hope I can show you that it's over now."

Blake looked away, and Yang genuinely couldn't tell if she'd said the right thing or not. Minutes passed in a tense silence, before Yang finally cracked. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I shouldn't have brought that up."

Blake shrugged, still looking out over the bow. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, Yang," she said, slowly. "But I only just met you. And to be completely blunt; you don't know me. And you need to understand that as much as you seem like a nice, genuine person, I'm still about to spend the next gods-know-how-long living and working with a complete stranger in a claustrophobic environment that's completely foreign to me, and the _only_ reason I'm agreeing to it is because I _don't_ have any other choice right now."

Yang's heart sank. "Y–yeah," she said quietly. "I understand." 

"Hey," Blake said softly, her voice finally showing some emotion again, "that doesn't mean we can't get along. Maybe, even be friends. I'd be lying if I said you didn't intrigue me. I just… don't want you to wind up getting hurt."

 _You'd be the first to care,_ Yang thought bitterly, but she forced away that thought. "I… appreciate that." She said simply, not trusting her tone to stay soft for anything more.

Another silence followed, though it was less tense than before, and this time Blake was the one to break it. "How long have you had… her, right? The boat?"

Yang nodded with a smile. " _Bumblebee_? I've had her a few years now, since a little before I got out of college."

Blake sat forward, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "So is living on her a long-term plan, or…?"

"Hopefully," Yang replied. "I spent a lot of time living on boats growing up, and after I spent four years at a landlocked college, I just… I missed the water. A lot. I knew then that I could never really be happy living any other way. So I saved up, told my dad my plans, and he pitched in to help buy me _Bumblebee_ for graduation."

"Quite the graduation present," Blake commented, and there was a bubbliness to her voice that could almost have been described as a chuckle.

"I suppose," Yang replied with a chuckle of her own. "But we had a fair amount of money saved up from… various things…" She forced herself past those thoughts. "Anyways, I'm just happy to be back out on the water."

"It must be expensive, right? Living on a boat?"

"Well the buy-in price can definitely be a bit on the steep side, but boats don't hold value well at all, so if you don't mind being a couple decades out of date, you can get a nice one for surprisingly cheap. That's how I got _Bumblebee_. And as far as maintenance goes, boats get a much worse rap than they really deserve. Back when everything was made of wood, the old joke, 'B.O.A.T. stands for "Break Out Another Thousand"' was actually pretty accurate. Believe it or not, wood and damp environments don't mix well." 

Blake made an expression of mock astonishment, drawing out a giggle from Yang. 

"The parts above and below the water weren't actually that bad to take care of, since rot really grows best in _damp_ environments, not _completely soaked_ or _mostly dry_ ones, but right around the waterline would get to be a disaster area pretty damn quick if you let it. If you _really_ neglected it, it wasn't unheard of for the waterline to get so badly rotted that the bottom of the hull _literally fell off_."

That earned a genuine expression of astonishment from Blake, and Yang chuckled again before continuing.

"Fortunately, modern fiberglass hulls will last until the heat death of the universe if you take even _vaguely_ decent care of them, so with most boats built after the '60s the only things that _really_ have the potential to suck up money are the engines and, if you have a sailboat, the rigging. You might want to grab onto something by the way."

"What?"

Yang cocked her head towards a fast ferry that was approaching them from the bow. Blake nodded and gripped the frame of the windshield to steady herself as the ferry blew past on the port side. Yang spun the wheel to port, pointing the bow towards the ferry's wake. The first wave hit, sending a thick spray flying up and knocking Yang and Blake around as _Bumblebee_ pitched up over the crest, then down into the trough, slamming into the next wave with another blast of seawater. Another crest, and they were through to the relatively tranquil waters on the other side.

"You okay?" Yang asked, unable to contain her lopsided grin at the feeling of cool sea spray against her cheeks.

Blake nodded. "That was actually… kind of fun!"

"You always want to take big waves on the bow. One, because it _is_ more fun, and two, because it's a lot more comfortable than taking them on the beam and rolling around like a barrel. _That's_ how you get people seasick."

"Good to know!"

"Anyways, back on topic, it can be expensive to _get_ a boat, but once you have one they're actually fairly cheap to live on. Most marinas charge slip fees by the foot, so a 36-foot boat like _Bumblebee_ is cheaper to dock than something like the 54-footer my friends Coco and Velvet own. Rent is more expensive in the summer than it is in the winter, because slips are much more in-demand from seasonal people, but over the course of the year it averages out to about 1,300 lien a month, and that includes hot water, electricity, and a parking space in the lot for my car. Add on things like internet and my self-storage unit up in the city, which is pretty much mandatory if you want to be a liveaboard, and it all adds up to about 1,600 lien a month for everything. Which, compared to a normal two-bedroom apartment in the middle of the city is pretty damn good."

"You make it sound like a no-brainer," Blake said, that almost-chuckle returning to her voice. 

"For me, it is," Yang replied. "But it's definitely not for everyone. For one, it's _super_ cramped. Boats are usually pretty good about packing lots of stuff into a very small space, but there's still only so much you can do. Sailboats are especially tough because of the narrower hull. That's why pretty much _any_ liveaboard will tell you that a self-storage unit is a _must_. And even though it takes care of the space problem, having to make the hike in and out of the city every time you want to get something that you don't have on the boat can get tiring for some people. Plus, there's the fact that you'll _never_ be able to sell a boat for as much as you bought her for. Compared to a house, it means you need to be much more careful about saving up for retirement. Also, every couple of years you need to pull the boat out of the water to get the bottom cleaned and repainted, and replace all the zincs so that your metal shit doesn't corrode, and in the meantime you need to find another place to stay. So, there's definitely trade-offs. But if it's right for you, it's _right_."

Blake smiled. "I suppose it'll be interesting to try it out for myself, then."

"I suppose it will be!" Yang agreed, before pulling back the throttle to a little above idle. "We're about to get into the 'No-Wake' zone," she explained. "Beacon Marina's just up the harbor. Won't be long now."


	3. The Tour

Beacon Marina was built alongside an old wharf, and as Blake and Yang rounded the bend in the harbor, they were greeted by an impressive line of boats along the outermost dock, stretching over a thousand feet from end to end. Yang pulled the throttle all the way to idle and shifted _Bumblebee_ into neutral.

"Alright," she said to Blake, "I'm going to put down the bumpers before we pull into the slip."

"Are the bumpers those rubber things on the deck?" Blake indicated several rubber cylinders that were tucked up against the railing along the port and starboard sides.

"Yup!" Yang confirmed. "They're all tied off, so I just need to kick 'em off the deck and they'll hang against the sides of the hull and keep us from bumping into stuff."

"Do you want me to help?"

"If you want," Yang replied. She hopped up on the catwalk on the starboard side, and Blake did the same on the port. Yang nudged the bumpers off the deck with her foot one by one until she reached the bow. Scanning the docks, she saw two women standing on the bow of a sailboat next to an empty slip, waving. She waved back excitedly.

"Who are they?" Blake asked, stepping around from behind her to get a better look.

"They're my slipmates!" Yang replied, beaming. "The one in the red is Ruby, my little sister, and the one in the white is her boatmate Weiss!" She pointed at each in turn.

"Ruby looks _nothing_ like you," Blake observed.

"Yeeeah, we get that a _lot_."

Blake gave a timid wave, and Yang noticed the looks of confusion that crossed Ruby and Weiss's faces. She held up an index finger to tell them to wait, and turned to Blake. "You get the bumpers on your side?"

Blake nodded.

"Great!" Yang made her way back to the cockpit and Blake followed. "They're probably gonna ask questions," she warned softly. "I can let you tell them what you're comfortable saying, or I can handle them myself. Your call."

Blake's ears drooped, and she spent several moments thinking. "Do… do you mind handling them? I'm… still a little stressed out."

"Of course I don't mind," Yang replied softly. "Is there anything you want to make sure they know or don't know?"

Blake crossed her right arm over her chest, hand gripping her left bicep. "I… I don't want to make a big deal out of anything," she said quietly. "And… please don't tell them about… you know…" Her hand lightly touched her stomach, over her wound.

Yang nodded. "I'll try to keep it as simple as possible, and I'll make sure not to mention that. I promise."

Blake gave an appreciative smile. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Blake." Yang threw _Bumblebee_ into reverse and spun the helm all the way to starboard. _Bumblebee_ slowly turned away from the dock, and Yang straightened out the wheel to back into the open slip next to Ruby and Weiss.

"Who's that?" Ruby asked excitedly as soon as Yang came into earshot.

"I caught a fish!" Yang replied, putting _Bumblebee_ into neutral again and tossing Ruby the stern line. "Her name's Blake!"

"You _caught_ her?" Weiss asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously as she walked around to the finger dock and grabbed the spring line.

"Long story," Yang deflected, putting _Bumblebee_ into forward for a brief moment to halt her momentum before finally abandoning the helm and hopping onto the front deck to grab the bow line as Weiss slipped the spring line onto a cleat halfway along _Bumblebee_ 's port side. "I'll tell you what you need to know in a bit. She can fill you in on the details when she's ready." She glanced back at Blake, who gave her an appreciative smile, before vaulting the railing and dropping onto the finger pier to help pull the boat the rest of the way into the slip. Finally, the spring line pulled taut, pulling the boat to a halt, and Yang, Ruby and Weiss tied off their lines on the cleats on the dock to secure her in place.

"Alright," Yang said, turning to Ruby and Weiss, "I'm just going to give Blake the tour of the place and make sure she's settled in, and then we'll talk, okay?"

The two girls nodded and retreated on to their boat. Yang stepped onto the main dock from the finger pier and grabbed _Bumblebee_ 's power cable from the cockpit and knelt down in between a storage box and the dock's power pedestal to plug it in.

"So I hear I'm getting the ten-lien tour, huh?" Blake hopped down onto the dock next to Yang, looking down at her as her ears flicked adorably every which way, taking in all the hustle and bustle of the nearby city.

"All free for you, _darling_ ," Yang quipped in return. 

Blake's ears instantly flattened and her eyes went wide, her whole body stiffening.

"Blake?" Yang asked, her heart suddenly sinking like a rock. Blake's chest rose and fell rapidly as she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, sinking down onto the dock against the storage box and pulling her knees up to her chest. "Hey, it's okay," Yang said softly. "It's just me, Yang." Blake didn't respond right away. "Do you want to be alone?" Yang asked.

Blake shook her head, eyes still squeezed shut as she continued to hyperventilate.

"Easy," Yang cooed. "Breathe for me, Blake. Can you do that?" 

Blake nodded and forced herself to take deeper breaths, though they were still ragged and uneven. 

"What can I do to help?" Yang asked gently. Blake wordlessly held out her hand, and Yang pressed her own against it, bracing herself as Blake once again clutched it with a bone-crushing grip. "I'm not going to leave unless you want me to, okay?"

Blake nodded again.

"You're going to be okay," Yang murmured. "I'm here. It'll be over soon."

"I'm sorry," Blake whimpered, still struggling to control her breathing.

"What are you sorry for?" Yang asked softly.

"I… I'm sorry for breaking down like this… for not being strong…"

"You don't need to apologize for that, Blake," Yang murmured. "This isn't your fault. I made a mistake, and I'm sorry."

Blake shook her head, opening her eyes to look at Yang. "I–it's not your fault, either. You didn't know…"

Yang nodded. "You're right, I didn't. But I do now, and if that word bothers you, I won't use it again, okay?"

"I…" Blake started to protest, but closed her eyes again and conceded with a nod. Eventually, her breathing steadied, her grip on Yang's hand relaxed, and she opened her eyes, giving Yang's hand one final, almost affectionate, squeeze before finally letting go. "Thank you. Again."

Yang smiled. "Anytime, Blake. Again," she added with a wink, earning a small smirk from Blake. "You ready to get up? I still need to show you around!"

Blake nodded, and Yang hopped to her feet, offering her hand to help Blake up. The faunus hesitated, staring at the painted prosthetic, and Yang felt a nervous warmth flood her cheeks. Embarrassed, she pulled her hand away and hid it by rubbing the back of her neck. The sudden motion seemed to pull Blake out of whatever thoughts she had been stuck in, though, and with a hesitant smile she reached up, holding out her hand.

Timidly, Yang reached back out and held it, and Blake pulled herself to her feet. Yang gave her a small smile, but Blake's ears flattened. "It's not the prosthetic, you know," the faunus said softly.

"What?" Yang asked, confused.

"The reason I hesitated," Blake clarified. "It's… it's not the prosthetic…"

"Right." Yang suddenly felt a little selfish for assuming that her arm was the problem when Blake had already demonstrated anxiety over relying on others. "Sorry, I… it's just… I'm not really used to it yet."

"You got it recently?" Blake asked.

"I…" Yang was _not_ ready to have this conversation. "It's a long story," she said at last.

"Sorry," Blake replied, sounding a little too worried.

"It's okay, Blake," Yang reassured. "I promise."

"I… I guess we both have our 'long stories,' huh?" Blake asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her human ear.

Yang nodded and let out a heavy sigh, before feeling a hand rest gently on her shoulder.

"I–if you ever want to talk about yours, I'm here," Blake offered, locking eyes with her and giving a gentle smile. "Just like I know you're here for me when I'm ready to talk about mine."

Yang smiled appreciatively. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Yang," Blake replied, and though her tone was genuine, something in it made it clear she knew _exactly_ what she was doing with her wording. "Now, I keep hearing something about a tour…"

"Yeah, yeah." Yang rolled her eyes playfully. "Follow me."

* * *

Beacon Marina's main dock was set up in an "L"-shape, with several lettered docks attached to the long end like ribs on a spine. "The outermost docks are E- and G-dock," Yang explained as she walked Blake along the particular "rib" that _Bumblebee_ was docked on. "We're on E-dock, and if you look up there—" she pointed to where E-dock attached to the very end of the "spine" and another dock connected directly opposite it "—that other dock is G-dock."

She led Blake along E-dock until they reached the "spine," and turned left to walk along it. To their right, a large steel retaining wall led from the waterline up to a paved area with several buildings on it. "This main dock is A-dock, and it goes down all the way along this wall, takes a left at the end to run along the shore, and then takes _another_ left to run past the office. All the lettered docks connect to it on this side, so if you wanted to get to, say, B-dock by boat, you'd need to go in along the office side. Right here," she gestured to a 30-foot long catamaran sailboat tied up alongside A-dock, "is Ren and Nora's boat, _Pink Lotus_. Ren and Nora are… I'll be honest, I have _no_ idea how they get along. But they do. It's… kinda cute, actually."

Blake cocked an eyebrow.

"You'll understand when you meet them." Yang led Blake onward. "That's D-dock," she said, gesturing to the next dock on their left as they walked past it. "And this is _Arkos_ , Jaune and Pyrrha's boat." She pointed to a very old, 36-foot long cabin cruiser with a red hull and an off-white cabin. "If you're gonna be my assistant, you're going to get to know her _quite_ well. Jaune and Pyrrha are sweethearts though." They continued on until they reached the next dock on their left. "This is—"

"Let me guess, C-dock?" Blake deadpanned. "And the next one down is B-dock, and after that is where A-dock turns to the left?"

Yang gasped, throwing her hand over her mouth dramatically. "How did you _know_??" She exclaimed in the most over-the-top tone of astonishment she could manage.

Blake smirked and let out a small puff of air through her nose. Yang decided to count it as a laugh. "Any other boats I should know?" Blake asked as they began to walk again.

"Only one, and I'll point her out when we get to her." Yang led Blake down along A-dock past where it turned the corner, and gestured to a ramp on their right leading up to the ground with a gate at its far end. "This is one of the ramps to get off the docks. It's high tide now so it's pretty flat, but at low tide it can get really steep, so be careful, especially when it's wet. Ruby learned the hard way not to try sprinting up to the top at low tide during the rain."

"Noted."

"Up here, A-dock takes another left to go past the office," Yang explained as they rounded the second corner. "The parking lot is up there," she pointed to a paved area to their right, "and this is the other boat you should probably know for today." She gestured to a large, new, 54-foot sport fisherman with a coffee-colored hull. " _Crosshares_. I'm not _super_ close with her owners, Coco and Velvet, but they'll probably be at my party tonight, so I figured I'd give you that heads up."

Blake nodded. "I assume that's the office?" She asked, pointing to a small, two-story building at the edge of the parking lot with a wooden deck extending out over the water. Another ramp next to it led up from the dock.

"Yup!" Yang confirmed. Then, her voice softened. "Oz should be in right now. He's Beacon's Dockmaster, so he's kinda in charge of the whole thing. You should probably meet him sooner rather than later, but it doesn't need to be right now if you'd rather wait."

"I should be fine," Blake replied. "But thank you."

Yang nodded, and started up the ramp. "Follow me!"

The gate at the top of the ramp opened into the corner of the parking lot. The office was on their left, up a small set of stairs. The deck that stretched out over the water included several chairs and tables, a pair of grills, and even a small pool, but Yang led Blake to the building. "The second door is the bathrooms, showers, laundry, and mailboxes," Yang explained. "You'll need a key to get in, but I'm sure Oz'll give you a spare once he knows you'll be staying with me. This first door is the office." Yang opened it, stepping aside for Blake to go first.

The Beacon Marina office was a fairly cozy affair. Coming in from the door, a flight of stairs on the right led to the upper level, while on the left was the main lobby, complete with a set of chairs, a coffee table, a TV, a coffee machine, a fridge, and various nautically-themed decorations. A sliding glass door opened to the deck, and on one side of the room a counter marked the reception area. Sitting behind it was a man in a green suit, with tousled silver hair and small, round glasses perched low on his nose. "Good evening, Miss Xiao Long," he said with a refined, almost archaic accent. "It's been some time since you've brought in a new face."

"Blake, this is Dockmaster Ozpin," Yang said. "Oz, this is Blake… uhh… I don't think I got her last name…" She trailed off sheepishly.

Blake crossed her arm across her chest nervously. "B–Belladonna."

"Well, Miss Belladonna, what brings you in today?" Ozpin asked.

Blake's ears flicked nervously, and she glanced at Yang for help.

"Blake's going to be staying with me for a little bit," Yang explained. "Probably a few months. I figured we should let you know, and also I was wondering if maybe you could get her her own key?"

Ozpin smiled. "Of course." He opened a drawer under his desk and pulled out a key, offering it to Blake. "Here you go."

Blake took it, looking rather confused. "I… I don't need to do any paperwork or anything?"

Ozpin chuckled. "If you had your own boat, you most certainly would. But we merely rent out the slip. Miss Xiao Long's boat is her own, and whom she chooses to accommodate with it is her own responsibility."

"In a lot of ways, the _boats_ are more like the tenants of a marina than the people inside them are,” Yang offered. “We’re expected to keep our boats presentable, of course, but beyond that as long as the bills are paid and our insurance meets the marina’s standards, we can do pretty much whatever we want to them. Or on them,” she added with a wink.

“Right,” Blake said flatly, crossing her arms and cocking her hips in a thoroughly unimpressed display, though the amused glint in her eye told Yang that she was at least having fun. “Don’t get your hopes up, blondie.”

“Yikes, pulling out the B-word already?” Yang replied with a chuckle. “Fine, I know when I’m not wanted.” She started to walk out of the office, going just as far as she needed to for the joke, before calling over her shoulder, “But seriously though, we should get going. I’ve got a party soon and I still need to finish your tour _and_ talk to Ruby and Weiss.”

She held the door open for Blake, who jogged out of the office to catch up. “Sorry,” the faunus said once they were both outside, and though Blake didn't seem particularly upset this time, Yang was still surprised by the apology.

“For what?” She asked, genuinely unsure of the answer.

“For wasting time?” Blake said as if it was obvious. “I should have remembered you had plans.”

Yang felt a pit of frustration welling up inside her. Not for Blake, but for whoever had taught her to believe that everything was her fault. She forced it down and spoke calmly. “That wasn’t your fault. _I_ was the one who started the banter. If anyone was wasting time, it was me.” She smiled warmly. “You’re _fine_ , and if you're ever _not_ fine, I promise I'll tell you, okay?”

Blake hesitated, before finally nodding. “Yeah, okay.”

"Do you want to take a moment before we finish the tour?" Yang asked softly. "I can absolutely make time if you need it."

Blake shook her head. "I'm okay, but thanks." She gestured for Yang to start walking ahead of her. "Lead on."

Yang gave her a lopsided smile before leading Blake back to the ramp. "Wanna try your key?"

Blake smiled and opened the door, holding it open for Yang to go through.

"Why thank you, m'lady," Yang said, miming tipping her hat as she walked past. Blake followed behind her, and once they reached the dock Yang took a right to continue walking in the direction they had been earlier. Once the dock passed the office's deck, it took a right to run along the side of the office opposite the parking lot.

"This is the start of T-dock," Yang explained. "Beacon usually reserves this dock for larger boats that don't fit inside the slips or in the shallower water by A-dock." As T-dock passed the end of the office, it took another right to run along the side opposite the pool, before taking two lefts to form a squared-off U-shape. After the second left, it continued straight all the way out to line up with the end of E-dock, the space between forming the entrance to the marina. Several large yachts were tied up alongside the dock, and a third ramp ran parallel to it from the dock up to dry land.

"T-dock makes one final right at the very end there, but it doesn't go very far afterwards and there's no point in bringing you all the way down there just to turn around and come back." She turned back to Blake and bowed low, fully aware of the view she was providing. "That concludes your tour, Lady Belladonna." She stood back up and felt a small swell of satisfaction at the sight of Blake quickly looking away, a slight flush to her cheeks. "Walk me back home?" She asked innocently.

Blake glanced back just long enough to roll her eyes with a smile. "Dork." And with that, she turned and walked away, with a swing to her hips that almost seemed deliberate.

It took a moment for Yang to realize she was staring, and she had to fight off the warmth creeping into her cheeks as she started to jog after her. "H–hey! Wait up!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arkos is based on a Chris Craft Commander 36  
> Pink Lotus is based on a Maine Cat 30  
> Crosshares is based on a Hatteras GT54
> 
> The layout for Beacon Marina is based on the Constitution Marina in Boston, Massachusetts.


	4. Lines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> White Rose is based off of a Hinckley Sou'Wester 42.
> 
> The next few chapters are going to be a bit shorter than the previous ones. In exchange, updates will be a bit more frequent. Feel free to let me know what you think of the new style, and whether or not you prefer the old one, in the comments!

_White Rose_ was much older than _Bumblebee_ , about 6 feet longer, and significantly nicer. All of which made sense, considering that she was a hand-me-down. After dropping Blake off on _Bumblebee_ , Yang gently knocked on the hull of Ruby's boat to alert her and Weiss to her arrival. After a moment, Ruby popped out of the cabin door. "Oh, hey Sis. Come on in."

 _White Rose_ 's cabin was larger than _Bumblebee_ 's, and lavishly decorated with expensive, varnished wood, but otherwise laid out fairly similarly. The galley was on the port side at the base of the ladder, a guest room was positioned under the cockpit on the starboard side, and the center of the cabin was occupied by a large folding table with a couch on either side. Ruby sat down next to Weiss on the port side couch, and Yang sprawled herself casually on the starboard one.

"So." Weiss said simply, and the unspoken question was clear.

Yang reluctantly sat up. "Okay, fine. First, you should know that I promised her I wouldn't tell you any more than you needed to know." She was met with a look of slight betrayal from Ruby and mild irritation from Weiss. Yang sighed and rubbed her face. "Look, it's pretty easy to see that she's gone through hell," she explained. "She's not used to even _setting_ boundaries, let alone having them respected, so if there's _one thing_ I'm not gonna do, it's cross the lines she sets out, okay?" She locked eyes with Weiss and then Ruby, almost daring them to challenge her. They both conceded with a nod. "I pulled her from the water outside the harbor. I can't tell you how she got there, because I don't even know myself. But to make a long story short, she doesn't have anywhere she can go, so she's going to be staying with me for the foreseeable future."

Ruby looked somewhat concerned, and Weiss narrowed her eyes. "So let me get this clear." Weiss had heard enough puns to learn to instinctively avoid using the word 'straight' around Yang. "You pulled a _random_ woman from the middle of the ocean, know next to _nothing_ about her, and you've decided to let her live with you indefinitely?"

"It does sound a little sketchy," Ruby agreed hesitantly. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Okay, first off, she's not living with me ' _indefinitely_ ', she's only staying until she can get back on her feet—"

"And do you know when that will be?" Weiss countered.

Yang didn't respond, instead fighting back the irritation that was bubbling up.

"Like I said," Weiss stated. " _Indefinitely_."

Yang forced back a growl. "And second off, I can take care of myself! I've _been_ taking care of myself ever since I was a _kid_ , _Weiss_ , so I don't need _either_ of you _fussing_ over me!"

"I _just_ think that you need to understand the risk that you're taking here," Weiss responded, agitation starting to seep into her tone.

"What risk?" Yang asked rhetorically. "Do you think she's going to sneak into my room and stab me in my sleep??"

"That's a possibility," Weiss replied, "but that's not what I'm _most_ concerned about."

"Then what is?" Yang was struggling to keep her tone civil.

"She's _exactly_ your type!" Weiss explained. "Or do you think we've all forgotten about Melanie and Cinder?"

" _Weiss_ ," Yang growled warningly.

"That's exactly it, Yang!" Weiss argued. "It's been _years_ , and you're _still_ hurting from them! And I don't blame you— _nobody_ does! What they each did to you would have been awful enough if it only happened once, but to have it happen twice in three years, back-to-back? Gods, I can't imagine! But do you really think you're ready to fall in love again? Because mark me, Yang, that's _exactly_ what's going to happen."

"It's not like that! It's not _going_ to be like that." Yang responded to Weiss's pointed look with a glare and continued. "She needs _help_ , Weiss, and I can help her! It's just the right thing to do!"

Weiss crossed her arms, unfazed. " _Is_ that all it is? You helping her? You really expect us to believe that you get _nothing_ out of this?"

"We all know how lonely you've been lately," Ruby added quietly.

Yang stood and threw up her hands. "Okay, fine! It's a mutually beneficial deal! I _fail_ to see the problem with that!"

"The _problem_ is that you're _terrible_ about attachment," Weiss said flatly, standing as well. "Specifically, _avoiding_ it. It doesn't seem to matter how hard you try, people _always_ get through your walls like they're _paper_. In fact, I'd bet money that you're already starting to get attached. Ruby and I aren't blind, and we aren't dumb. We've seen the way you're _already_ looking at her."

"I—!" Yang fumed, and she knew by now that her eyes must have turned red. The most infuriating thing was that Weiss was _right_. It had been four hours since she'd met Blake, and she was _already_ enjoying her company enough to miss her if she left.

"Yang," Ruby said gently, "We're both just worried about you. You're not built to be alone, and that's okay! But living with a random stranger who you've already gotten attached to, when her entire plan is to leave as soon as possible, is..."

"We don't want to see you get hurt again," Weiss finished.

"Well, what do you want me to do?!" Yang snapped. "She almost _died_ , she's _completely_ alone, with _nothing_ to her name, and _nowhere_ else to stay! Would you rather I just dump her in some back alley and let her starve?! Would that make you happy?!"

Weiss's eye roll was almost audible. "What do _I_ want you to do?! I don't know, you could start by bringing her to the _police_?!" She shot back.

"She's a _homeless faunus_! If you think the police are going to do _anything_ for her—"

"Just because you had _one_ bad experience with the justice system doesn't mean they're all—"

"THAT’S ENOUGH!"

Yang and Weiss both turned towards Ruby in shock. The younger woman rarely ever raised her voice in anger, but when she did, it was enough to bring entire rooms to a standstill. "Weiss." Ruby began, her voice dangerously even as she glared at her. "I know you're worried about Yang. I am too. But there is a line you _know_ not to cross around us, and you just crossed it." She turned her attention towards Yang and locked eyes with her as she continued. "If Yang _really_ believes that this is the right thing to do, then it's our job as her family to support her in it. And we will." She shifted her attention to address both of them. "This conversation is _over_. Yang, you should go get ready for your party. Weiss and I have some more talking to do."

* * *

Yang was still fuming when she climbed back into _Bumblebee_ 's cockpit and slammed the door open with a fair bit more force than necessary. Inside the cabin, Blake jumped with a yelp, dropping the book she was reading and looking up at Yang, eyes wide in fright.

Instantly, all the fight left Yang's body, and her heart twisted painfully with guilt. "Shit, Blake," she said softly. "I'm sorry. I'm not angry at you, I _promise_."

"Wh–what's wrong?" Blake asked, her ears still pinned back and her body tense.

"I just…" Yang sighed, her shoulders sagging. "Is it okay if I come in?"

"It's your boat," Blake replied, confused. "Why would you need my permission to come in?"

"Would you feel _safe_ if I came in?" Yang clarified.

Blake looked down at the table for a moment, then nodded hesitantly.

"You're sure?"

Another moment, then another nod, this one somewhat more confident.

Moving slowly, Yang gently closed the door before moving to slump down on _Bumblebee_ 's couch, resting her elbows on the large folding table and cradling her forehead in her hands. "Ruby and Weiss just got on my nerves," she sighed. "That's all." After a moment, she heard footsteps pad across the cabin and felt the couch next to her shift as Blake sat down, and she gasped as a hand lightly touched her back.

"Sorry!" Blake exclaimed, quickly pulling her hand away. "I–I should have asked first!"

"It's okay Blake," Yang replied, sitting up enough to look at her. "I just wasn't expecting it. You can go ahead."

Hesitantly, Blake's hand returned to her back, and after a moment, her touch became firmer, more comforting. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked softly.

"They're just worried about me taking you in," Yang explained. "I understand why, but _they_ need to understand that _I_ can take care of _myself_ , and I don't _need_ them _mother henning_ over me!" 

Blake's ears drooped, and Yang cursed herself for not keeping better control of her tone. "Are… are they worried I'll hurt you?"

Yang sighed heavily, focusing on the comforting pressure of Blake's hand on her back. "No," she began, then hesitated. "Well… actually yes. _And_ no…. Kinda? It's complicated. They're worried about me getting hurt, but… not the way you might think."

"What way are they worried?" Blake asked softly, and the genuine concern in her voice was almost enough to crack Yang open right then and there.

"I…" Yang trailed off. Weiss and Ruby were right. She was getting too attached, too quickly, and she needed to learn to keep her walls up better. As much as she _wanted_ to open up to Blake, it would only hurt her in the long run. It always did. "It's another long story," She said simply.

"Oh." Blake looked down at the table nervously. "I'm sorry."

"Hey," Yang said softly. Blake's ears perked up and she looked back up at Yang. "Don't be. You've already helped me just by being here."

"I'm sorry I couldn't—" Blake seemed to pause to reconsider her words, and then looked up with a hesitant smile. "I'm... glad I could help," she said finally.

"Me too." Yang returned the smile, her heart warming at Blake's effort. She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall next to them and continued, "My party's going to be starting in a few minutes up by the office if you want to come?" She offered. "There'll be food, and it won't be super crowded. Only a dozen or so people at most, if you include the two of us."

Blake smiled appreciatively, standing up and moving out of the way so that Yang could leave the couch. "Thanks, but you go on ahead. I'll probably wait a little bit before coming up. I-if that's okay of course!"

"Of course it's okay, Blake," Yang said gently. "You don't have to come at all if you don't want to."

"I _do_ want to," Blake reassured, "I just need a bit to prepare myself first."

Yang nodded. "I just need to get changed into my bathing suit," she explained as she headed towards her room, pausing at the door and giving Blake a warm smile. "You come up whenever you're ready."


	5. The Party

Yang could smell the food cooking on the grill well before she arrived at the office deck. She'd changed into her bathing suit under her shirt and shorts, and walked up the steps to find Ren, Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha already there. Ren was standing at the grill, cooking what smelled like hot dogs and wearing his pink "PLEASE DO NOTHING TO THE COOK" apron over a green t-shirt and swim trunks. Nora was standing next to him in a pink one-piece, still dripping pool water. Jaune was in the pool, wearing a pair of blue and yellow swim trunks, laughing and splashing at Pyrrha, who was floating next to him in a sleek red swimsuit.

"I see you're already having fun without me!" Yang teased as she walked up the steps onto the deck.

Jaune and Pyrrha immediately stopped splashing and turned to wave at her excitedly.

"Happy birthday!" Pyrrha and Jaune said over each other.

"Happy birthday!" Ren stated, in what for him qualified as a cheerful tone.

"Okay, she's here!" Nora whined at Ren. " _Now_ can we start eating?! Ah!" She jumped back as Ren lightly swatted at her with his spatula and promptly corrected herself. "Happy birthday, Yang!"

"Someday you'll come to my parties for the dazzling company, and _not_ just the food," Yang joked, walking over and playfully punching Nora on the shoulder.

"Someday," Nora agreed, "but _not_ today!" She lunged forward to give Yang a hug, but the blonde dodged backwards.

"Hey!" Yang laughed. "At least let me get my clothes off first." Nora pouted, but stood back as Yang stripped out of her shirt to reveal a yellow and black bikini top with a burning heart emblazoned over the left breast.

"I wasn't aware this was _that_ kind of party," a feminine voice joked from behind her.

"You make that joke _every_ year, Coco," Yang groaned, rolling her eyes and setting her shirt aside on a table as she turned to see a tall woman with short brown hair and dark shades coming up the stairs with a brown-eyed rabbit faunus in tow. "Velvet, control your girlfriend."

"Coco," the rabbit faunus chastised, " _behave_."

"But that's no _fun_ ," Coco replied with a smirk, before turning to Yang. "Word around the docks is you've brought in a new face?"

By now Yang had stepped out of her shorts and set them aside. "Word around the docks travels pretty quick, it see-aaah!" Her response was cut off by a yelp as Nora tackled her from behind and the two of them fell into the pool with a large splash. Yang and Nora both broke the surface cackling.

"Now now, ladies," Ozpin's voice chided from where he leaned against the sliding doorway to the office. "The signs clearly say there is to be no running or diving around the pool."

"But we weren't running _or_ diving," Nora pointed out.

"She's got you there, dad." A teenager with tousled black hair, hazel eyes, and tan, freckled skin poked out from behind Ozpin and was met with a chorus of "Oscar!" from everyone present. Ozpin merely chuckled and shook his head as he retreated back into the office.

"Glad you could make it!" Yang grinned up at Oscar from the pool.

"Me too," Oscar replied. "Happy birthday by the way!"

"Thanks!" Yang swam to the side of the pool and climbed out just in time to see Ruby and Weiss coming up the stairs.

"Happy birthday, Sis!" Ruby chirped.

"Happy birthday," Weiss said, looking slightly apologetic.

Yang felt her expression soften a little. "Thanks."

Nora threw up her hands. "Okay, now that everyone's here, _now_ can we start eating?!"

"Now that everyone's here, _I_ have an announcement to make," Yang corrected, drawing an anguished groan from Nora. She waited for everyone present to give her their attention before continuing. "Now for those of you who don't know, I have a new boatmate who's going to be staying with me for a little while, and she might be joining us later. Her name's Blake, and she has some social anxiety, so if she _does_ join us, I want everyone to be on their _best_ behavior while she's here. That means no rowdiness, and no yelling, okay?"

Everyone nodded, and Yang locked eyes with Nora before adding, "And I want there to be food left over for her when she arrives!"

Nora narrowed her eyes. "You drive a hard bargain, Misses Birthday Girl," she growled. "Fine."

* * *

The party continued as it did every year. Ren's cooking was excellent, as always, and he had made enough that, even with Nora present, everyone there could eat their fill with plenty leftover for Blake. Yang was presented with her gifts, most of which were gag gifts and inside jokes, and just as the sun was dipping low and Yang was starting to wonder if Blake would show up, she heard a familiar voice behind her. "H–hey."

Yang turned and broke into a broad smile as she saw Blake standing at the bottom of the stairs. "C'mon up!" She said, beckoning for Blake to join her. Timidly, Blake walked up onto the deck and shuffled very close to Yang. Not enough to touch, but enough for Yang to feel a light blush touch her own cheeks. "Everyone, this is Blake!"

In the corner of her eye, she saw Blake flinch instinctively, like she 'd been expecting a loud and boisterous greeting, only to straighten in surprise when she was met with nothing more chaotic than a bunch of beaming smiles and waving hands. Even Yang was caught slightly off guard by how much her earlier warning had been taken to heart.

"They're… quieter than I was expecting," Blake observed.

" _Apparently_ , they can have pretty good manners when they want to make an impression," Yang replied, as much to tease the others as to reassure Blake. "You've already seen Ruby and Weiss," she gestured to her sister and her boatmate. "The one with the pink stripe in his hair is Ren," she pointed as she explained.

Ren gave a small bow.

"The one with the red hair is his girlfriend, Nora."

Nora waved enthusiastically.

"The one with the _red_ hair is Pyrrha."

"Hellooo!"

"That's her boyfriend, Vomit Boy."

" _Please_ just call me Jaune…"

"The pipsqueak is Oscar."

"I'm _eighteen_!"

"And lastly, those two are Coco and—"

Blake's jaw dropped as she noticed who Yang was pointing at. "Wait, when you said 'Coco and Velvet,' I didn't realize you meant _the_ Coco Adel and _the_ Velvet Scarlatina!"

Yang shrugged sheepishly. "Uhh, surprise?" She offered.

"You're friends with the hottest model in Sanus, and one of the most successful faunus photographers in _all_ of _Remnant_?!" Blake asked, an excitement to her tone that Yang hadn't heard before. "You might actually be cool after all."

"Wait, _might be_?!" But Blake had already run off to chat excitedly with Velvet. " _Blake_?!"

Coco sidled up next to Yang with a pair of sodas and handed her one as she leaned in close. "She's got you _good_ , huh?" She teased.

"Does _not_!" Yang growled indignantly, swiping the offered soda out of Coco's hand and leaning back against a table as she cracked it open.

Coco merely laughed. "For what it's worth, I'm rooting for you."

"Good," Yang muttered flatly. "I'll keep that in mind if I ever decide to play."

Coco sighed and changed the subject. "By the way, I got you a little something extra." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of movie tickets. "They were giving these out at the shoot the other day. They're good for one showing of any movie at the West Vale Theater until the end of the month."

"You don't have to—"

"Velv and I have already seen everything we want to see this month. It'd be a waste not to give them away." Coco's usually teasing smirk fell away into something softer. "Besides, we know you've been lonely lately, so we figured the extra ticket gives you an excuse to invite someone out. I'm sure that anyone here would be happy to accompany you if you asked."

Yang glanced over at where Blake was still chatting with Velvet off in a quiet corner of the deck. A night at the movies could be a good way to get to know her new boatmate, but Ruby and Weiss's warning still floated in the back of her mind. But at the same time, Blake deserved better than a boatmate who refused to connect with her. Blake deserved a _friend_. And deep down, as much as it could only end poorly for the blonde, Yang knew she couldn't deprive Blake of that.

She took the tickets from Coco, watching as Velvet bared her teeth playfully in response to something Blake had said.

"What's Velvet doing?"

Coco smirked. "Your friend probably mentioned the conspiracy theory."

"The one about you two being vampires because you look kind of like some people from some really old photos?"

"That's the one."

Yang looked at Coco, suddenly curious. "I've never asked either of you what you think of it," she realized aloud.

Coco flashed a toothy grin. "It's fun to play into," she replied. "But I don't think there's anything to it. Would be kind of neat if there was, though."

Yang chuckled. "So you don't have any weird memories of bygone eras?"

"Well, when you've lived for thousands of years, your mind starts to go," Coco joked. "Look sharp, your crush is coming."

Before Yang could fire back, Coco gave her a playful pat on the butt and moved away to make space for Blake, who walked up with a glowing smile on her face and a bounce to her step.

"It is _so_ cool that you know Velvet Scarlatina," Blake said, standing next to Yang and leaning back on the table as well.

Yang smirked. "Oh, so I _am_ cool!" she teased.

"Don't let it go to your head." Blake's expression changed to one of curiosity as she noticed the tickets in Yang's hand. "What are those?"

"Oh! They're tickets to West Vale Theater," Yang explained. "They'll get us into one showing of any one movie before the end of the month!"

Blake raised an eyebrow. " _Us_?" She asked, a teasing confidence to her tone that was both new and _unfairly_ attractive.

Yang felt her cheeks start to burn. "I–I mean, if you _wanted_! No pressure, o–obviously! I was just thinking it might, y'know, it might be a fun thing to do together? N–not _together_ -together, just like, as friends, right? To get to know each other? Since, y'know, we're gonna be _living_ togeth—"

"Yang."

"Yes?"

"I'd be happy to go to the movies with you."

"Oh!" Yang noticed Coco snickering at her and made a mental note to smack her later. "G–great! Do you, uh… do you have anything in mind?"

Blake 's ears drooped ever so slightly. "What do _you_ want to see?" She asked, a hint of her earlier timidness resurfacing.

Yang smiled warmly. "Whatever _you_ want, Blake."

Blake's eyes narrowed slightly, scanning Yang's expression for any sign of deception. Finding none, she asked, "Do you like horror movies?"

 _Grapes_. In truth, Yang _hated_ horror movies. For all the bravado she liked to put forward, the rare times her family had watched horror movies always ended with her clinging to Ruby for dear life and trying to look _anywhere_ but the screen. But if Blake wanted to see a horror movie, then dammit, Yang wasn't going to get in her way. "Yeah, of course I do!" She lied.

Blake cocked an eyebrow, her confidence returning. "Oh, you _do_?" She drawled.

"Totally! I love them!"

Blake seemed unconvinced. "Then I suppose I won't be needing to let you hold my hand if we see _Apathy_ , right?"

Yang waved dismissively. "Hah, of course not!"

Blake smirked. "Then we're set! The 31st sound good?"

"Yeah! Sounds great!"

"Great."

"Great."

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment or two before Yang felt her cheeks heat up, and noticed Blake's do the same.

Blake let out a slightly nervous chuckle. "I'm, ah, I'm gonna go… say hi to some more of your friends," she said sheepishly.

"Y–yeah, me too!" Yang stammered back, turning away and feeling the tips of her ears grow hot as Blake awkwardly scurried off to talk to Pyrrha and Jaune.

Velvet scooted in next to her and leaned back with a smirk. "Oh, you are _royally_ screwed."

* * *

Blake spent a fair bit of the evening being reasonably social, happily allowing herself to be drawn into conversations and occasionally even starting some of her own. Yang was pleased to see that she was eating well, too. Gods knew, the poor woman looked like she needed it. As the light grew dim, however, Blake's confidence seemed to fade, and the meek, nervous side of her started to return. Her ears would briefly flick back whenever someone started talking to her, only to immediately stand up straight in a way that almost looked forced. She'd gravitate towards the quietest areas of the deck, standing with one arm across her chest to clutch her opposite bicep. She started to be more careful about grabbing food, waiting until the area around the grill was clear before darting in and grabbing something, and she just seemed to be avoiding people more and more in general. 

At first, Yang was reluctant to confront her about it, fearing that it might only make Blake more nervous, but eventually she became concerned enough that she decided to intervene. It took Yang uncomfortably long to extricate herself from her current conversation with Nora, but she was finally able to break free. Only to find that Blake was gone.

"Shit," she muttered.

"Everything okay?" Pyrrha asked, walking up next to her.

"Yeah," Yang said as she nodded. "I'm just worried about Blake. I think the party wound up being a little too much for her."

"You go check on her," Pyrrha encouraged. "I'll let the others know."

Yang smiled. "Thanks, Pyr. I'll be back in a bit." With that, she made her way to the gate and headed down the ramp towards the docks.

Even though the sun had long set, the docks remained well-lit thanks to the illuminated pedestals, the lights of people's boats, and the ambient glow of the big city. As Yang approached _Bumblebee_ , she felt her heart twist with concern as she saw that the lights were off. _She's a cat faunus_ , she tried to reassure herself. _She probably doesn't need the lights because of her night vision._

She gently knocked on the hull just in case before climbing aboard and opening the door. She peered down into the cabin to see Blake on the couch already looking up at her, somewhat surprised, her pupils glowing in the dim light. "Yang?" Her ears flattened guiltily. "I'm sorry. I should have told you where I was going."

"I would have appreciated that," Yang agreed gently, "but I'm not angry. I just wanted to check in and make sure you were okay."

Blake's ears perked back up a little. "I… I'll be fine," she said, offering a small but genuine smile. "I'm just a little overwhelmed. Thank you, though."

Yang nodded. Of course Blake would be overwhelmed after today. "Do you want some company?"

Blake shook her head. "I just need some time alone to process everything. You go enjoy your party." Her small smile grew a little warmer. "I'll… I'll see you when you get back."

"Okay." Yang paused, then reached into her pocket and pulled out her scroll, tossing it to Blake. "If you need anything, call Ruby or Weiss. Or text them if that's easier for you. I'll tell them to come get me if they hear from you."

Blake nodded, and Yang started to turn to leave, before she heard Blake's voice call out again. "Yang?"

Yang turned back to face her. "Yeah?"

"Thanks again. For everything." Maybe it was a trick of the light, but Blake's eyes suddenly seemed shinier. Wetter. "I… I don't think I can say that enough."

Yang gave her a warm smile as she felt her heart glow. "Then you don't need to say it at all."


	6. Wounds

The next morning, Yang woke up to hear the sounds of someone rifling through the galley. _Blake must be up_. Yawning, she swung her legs out over the side of the bed and sat up, her cowlick tickling her scalp as it brushed against the ceiling. Opening her closet, she got herself dressed for the day and opened her door to the sight of Blake trying and failing to quietly uproot the kitchen cabinets in search of something. Boxes of crackers and bags of chips lay strewn about the counter, and Yang tried not to stare as Blake bent over to peer into the cubbies set into the wall behind the stove. "You okay?" Yang asked, her voice hoarse from sleep.

Blake flinched and immediately turned to look at Yang, eyes wide and ears pinned. "Yang!" She gasped. "I am so, _so_ sorry! I was looking for tea, and– and– I promise I was going to put everything back—"

"Easy, Blake," Yang said softly. "It's okay. We only have coffee right now. We can get some tea while we're out today." 

"I–I can drink coffee!" Blake replied immediately.

"And _I_ can buy tea," Yang replied with a smile. "You can help yourself to the coffee if you want, but we're still gonna get some tea for you anyways, 'kay?" She slowly walked over to join Blake in the galley, watching for signs of fear, and began helping Blake put things away. In the midst of organizing she heard a noise and glanced over to see the faunus letting out a jaw-cracking yawn, her ears pulling back and her tongue curling slightly. It was an _unfairly_ adorable sight. "Did you sleep okay?" Yang asked casually.

"Fine!" Blake answered far too quickly. "I slept fine!"

The fluttering in Yang's heart instantly gave way to concern. "Are you sure?" She pressed gently.

Blake's ears drooped and she looked away in shame.

"The first few nights on a boat can be a little rough when you're not used to it," Yang offered softly. "It happens to a lot of people."

Blake gave a small shake of her head. "It… It wasn't that."

Yang felt a painful tug at her heart. She could only imagine the nightmares Blake must have had after yesterday. "If it'd help, you're always welcome to come sleep in my bed if you're having a rough night."

"I…" Blake faltered, struggling to find her words. "I don't… I think…"

"Take your time," Yang said gently.

Blake sighed and took several more seconds to collect her thoughts. "I _want_ to take you up on that offer…" she said at last. "But… there's just _so_ much that I don't understand right now. About you, about _myself_ … about _everything_!" 

"I'm not saying you have to," Yang said softly. "Just letting you know that the offer is out there."

Blake took a deep breath, and looked up at Yang with a small smile. "Thank you."

With the kitchen more or less organized, Yang opened the fridge and took stock of what they had. "Have you had breakfast yet?" She asked, glancing back at Blake.

The faunus shook her head.

"Do you like scrambled eggs?" Yang offered.

"Yeah."

"Good!" Yang set a pan on the stove and grabbed some eggs from the fridge. "Cuz they're about all I can make."

Blake let out a small snort. "You live on your own and you can't even cook?"

"I can cook a _little_!" Yang whined. "Hot dogs, bacon, burgers, scrambled _and_ hard-boiled eggs--"

"Right," Blake replied, unimpressed.

"Look, you set fire to _one—_ okay, _two_ turkeys and suddenly _nobody_ lets you in the kitchen anymore!" Yang quipped, before her tone fell at memories of shining eyes and a loving smile, long gone from her life now. "I also… never really had the chance to learn how," she added quietly.

"You okay?" Blake asked softly, and Yang felt the faunus lay a hand on her back and stroke her thumb back and forth comfortingly.

Yang nodded. "Yeah. Just hard memories." She straightened up and turned to give Blake a small smile. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable while I make us breakfast? It'll only be a few minutes."

* * *

Having something to put her mind to helped keep Yang grounded as she cooked, and Blake engaged her in idle chatter while they ate, which was enough to keep Yang's mind from wandering. By the time her plate was empty and her belly was full, Yang's usual cheeriness had returned.

"That was really good," Blake said once she'd finished her plate of eggs as well. "Thank you, Yang."

"You are very welcome!" Yang replied cheerily. She started to reach for Blake's plate, but the faunus was already grabbing and stacking both empty plates in front of herself. "What are you doing?" Yang asked.

"Cleaning?" Blake replied, tilting her head in confusion.

"You don't have to do that," Yang murmured.

"But I _want_ to," Blake replied genuinely.

Yang sat back on the couch and smiled, understanding why Blake felt the need to pitch in. "Thanks."

"You cooked, I clean," Blake explained. "You don't need to thank me for this." She stood up and carried the plates to the sink. "Helping each other, right?"

"Yeah," Yang agreed softly. "Helping each other."

Blake started to walk towards the couch when _Bumblebee_ started rocking back and forth from the wake of a passing boat. The motion set the tired faunus off balance, and she stumbled, hitting her left side against the counter and letting out a string of colorful curses that seemed disproportionate to the force of the impact. She stumbled back as the boat steadied, clutching the side of her stomach and trying not to double over in pain.

" _Shit_ , Blake!" Yang gasped, standing up quickly. "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," Blake hissed through gritted teeth.

"You don't _look_ fine," Yang said gently.

"I'm _fine_!" Blake growled. "I just bumped the spot where he—" a look of panic flashed across her face and she quickly tried to correct herself. "I just hit a sensitive spot! I'm fine."

Yang felt a pit of concern grow in her chest as a realization hit her. If Blake's wound was _that_ sensitive, there was a chance that... "Blake?" She asked softly. "May I take a look at your wound?"

" _No_!" Blake snapped, before instantly shrinking in on herself. "There's… there's nothing to see," she said nervously.

"I'm just worried it might have gotten infected from being in the ocean," Yang explained cautiously.

Blake glared at her, but said nothing.

"Please," Yang pushed gently. "It might not be, but if it is, we'll need to do something about it before it gets worse." She struggled to keep the emotion out of her voice. "You could get seriously hurt! And I don't want to see that!"

Blake continued to glare at her, but Yang decided to try one final push.

"I promise I won't ask any questions about what happened," she said softly. "I _just_ want to know if you're okay."

Blake stared at her for several moments, fighting some internal battle. " _Fine_." She spat, grabbing the hem of her shirt and roughly jerking it up. The hit had split open the large X-shaped scab, letting a thin line of blood trickle out, and the skin around the wound was pink and sore, but there was no pus or other signs of serious infection. The muscles of her stomach were tense, and her breathing seemed carefully measured, though Yang wasn't sure if it was out of pain, anger, or fear. It might have been all three.

"Okay," Yang sighed with relief. "It's not as bad as I thought." 

"Right, so I'm weak and pathetic and need to toughen up?" Blake growled. "Is _that_ the lecture I'm getting?" She was shaking now.

" _Gods_ no! It looks like it hurts like _shit_!" Yang reassured. She knew not to take Blake's words personally. She was probably _used_ to getting condescending lectures for showing weakness, which would explain why she'd always been so quick to hide it. "But it doesn't look like it's infected, at least not badly. We should probably keep an eye on it just to be safe, and Jaune should be able to get you something that would help with the pain, but for now if you'd rather leave it alone I think we're safe to do that. Honestly, it's pretty incredible that it's not worse. It definitely helped that you were well outside of the dirty harbor water, but… I think you're probably either just really lucky, or really hardy. Probably a bit of both." She stood up from the couch. "Here, hold tight while I get you a bandage for that cut, kay?" She added softly.

"I… y–yeah." All the fight was gone from Blake's body, and her voice shook in a way that made Yang's heart ache as she ducked into the head and returned with a large adhesive bandage and some antibiotic cream.

"Do you want to put it on yourself?" She asked gently. "Or is it okay if I do it?"

Blake squeezed her eyes shut and looked away. "Y–you can do it," she said quietly.

"You're sure?" Yang asked, realizing just how much of a leap of faith Blake must have been taking here.

Blake nodded, and Yang knelt down and opened the bandage's packaging, peeling away the protective paper over the pad and squirting on a dab of cream.

"You ready?" She asked softly.

Blake tensed and nodded again.

"Okay, I'm going to put it on now," Yang explained. "In three… two… one…" Blake gasped as Yang gingerly pressed the bandage to the wound, taking care not to press too hard on the sensitive skin around it. "There we go," she cooed, standing back up and feeling her heart twist at the sight of Blake looking up at her, ears pinned flat against her head and eyes wide and watering. "Shit, did I hurt you?" Yang gasped. "I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't—"

"I'm sorry," Blake whimpered. "I'm _so_ sorry!" Her voice cracked and she squeezed her eyes shut as her breathing became ragged and her tears began to fall.

"Hey, hey," Yang cooed, gently brushing each of her hands under Blake's own and once again feeling the faunus latch onto them like they were a lifeline. "It's okay." Very lightly, fearful of making things worse, she began to stroke her thumbs across Blake's knuckles. But instead of shying away from the contact, Blake's grip only tightened. Yang gently wrapped her fingers around Blake's hands to hold them as well, and gave a gentle squeeze, feeling her aching heart relax just a little when Blake squeezed back. "What are you sorry for?"

"I've been s–such a jerk!" Blake choked. "You've been n–nothing but nice, and I k–keep acting like you're out to get me!"

"People say and do things they don't mean when they're overwhelmed," Yang said softly. "It's okay. I'm not angry at you for that, and anybody who would be is a big old jerk, okay?"

"H–he was," Blake whimpered.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm here," Yang murmured. "But you don't have to. Just know that whoever this big old jerk was, he didn't deserve you, okay?"

"H–how do you know that?" Blake sniffled.

"Because you're strong, and you're kind, and I'm sure that you have many, _many_ other wonderful qualities that I'll be delighted to discover the more time I spend with you."

"None of that's t–true, though!"

"Isn't it?" Yang asked gently. "How long were you in the water?"

"I don't know… a–an hour or two, maybe?"

Yang smiled. "Well, that's the first one settled."

Blake looked up at her with an expression of utter bewilderment. 

"You don't just spend _an hour or two_ floating in the middle of the ocean with _no_ floatation device and a _hole_ in your stomach and come out of it alive if you're not a fighter," Yang explained, keeping her eyes locked to Blake's as the affection overwhelmed the poor faunus and she began to cry again. "And for the second, ever since I pulled you out of the water, you've been more concerned with _my_ comfort and well being than your _own_."

"But I h–haven't!" Blake cried.

"But you _have_!" Yang urged. "Everything I've offered you, you've insisted on repaying. You've asked for permission to do even simple things that might inconvenience me, even when I've already told you it's okay. When I asked you what movie _you_ wanted to see, your first thought was to ask me for _my_ preference instead. When I offered to buy you tea, the first thing you said was you'd be fine with coffee! And you were _all over_ those dishes once we finished breakfast!"

Blake opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and shook her head in distress.

"And maybe some of that is from whoever hurt you. I don't know! But I can tell that at least _some_ of that is genuine!" Yang emphasized her point by squeezing Blake's hands gently. "You have a good head on your shoulders, and a good heart in your chest, even if you don't see it right now. _That_ much, I'm _sure_ of."

"H–how can you be so sure?" Blake whimpered.

"Honest answer? I don't know. And I'd be lying if I said I had a great track record as a judge of character." Yang let out a small chuckle. "I'm not really making a great case for myself here, am I?"

This, at least, earned a watery laugh from Blake as she shook her head.

"But honestly? I just have a feeling about you, Blake," Yang admitted, affectionately stroking Blake's knuckles with her thumbs. "A feeling that I never had with anybody else. And something's telling me I should trust it. Maybe I'm just being dumb, and you're just like, _insanely_ good at pretending to be a good person, but… I really don't think that's the case."

Blake sniffled. "You sound s–so sure of yourself."

"Because I _am_ ," Yang promised. "Blake Belladonna, I believe with all of my heart—" she glanced down at her own chest with a small smirk before returning her gaze to Blake's eyes, "—and it's a pretty big one, that you are a wonderful, truly good person. Nothing about you has given me any reason to doubt that."

Blake finally broke eye contact to look down at her feet.

"Hey," Yang murmured, smiling when Blake looked back up. "I know that this doesn't magically solve all your problems. But whenever you're feeling down, or stressed, or overwhelmed, I'm here. Even if you snap at me once in a while, I understand, and I won't be angry. I know you're trying, and that's what's important."

For the third time, Blake's emotions overwhelmed her and her tears began to flow with renewed force. This time though, Blake said nothing, only stepping forward and leaning in to bump her forehead against Yang's. Yang closed her eyes and pressed back against Blake's forehead as well, all the while cooing gently and continuing to rub Blake's knuckles.

Eventually, Blake's whimpers died down and she finally pulled her forehead away, though she continued to hold Yang's hands as she looked into her eyes. "Thank you. _So_ much."

Yang smiled. "I already told you, you don't need to thank me."

Blake managed to return the smile. "Well, too bad. I will anyways."

"There she is," Yang chuckled as she gave Blake's hand a squeeze before letting go, feeling the other woman's touch linger for just a moment before retreating. "You good?"

Blake nodded. "Yeah. I'm good."

Yang's smile spread into a lopsided grin. "Then let's go do some shopping."


	7. A New Perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time, since this one wasn't actually part of the original plan. But I figured it was time for a quick check-in with Blake to see where her head's at.

Yang led Blake to her car and opened the door for her. "Your chariot, m'lady," she proclaimed, bowing low. Blake forced herself to fish her eyes out of Yang's cleavage, trying to mask herself with a disinterested snort as she ducked into the car and fastened her seatbelt. Yang walked around to the driver's side and hopped into the seat, buckling her own seatbelt and turning the ignition. "Where do you wanna go first?"

"Which one's the furthest away?" Blake asked.

"That'd be the bookstore," Yang replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I just figured I'd try to take a nap on the way," Blake lied.

Yang smiled. "Okay! I'll let you know when we get there!"

"Thanks." Blake closed her eyes and leaned her seat back, but she had no intention of napping. Her mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to figure out the new world she'd found herself dumped into, and she needed some quiet time to think. But where to even start? She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind, eventually settling on a single question that had been swimming around her head since yesterday afternoon.

**_Are you safe with Yang?_ **

She thought for a while before coming up with an answer.

_For now, at the very least. She's had plenty of opportunities to hurt me, and she hasn't._

**_That doesn't mean she won't, though._ **

_T_ _rue. But it_ **_might_** _. And even if it doesn't, it at least means she's playing the long game. That gives me time to figure things out before it gets dangerous._

**_Do you think it will?_ **

_I want to say no. I really,_ **_really_ ** _want to say no. But I felt the same way about being around Adam at first._

**_Do you think Yang's the same as Adam?_ **

_That's an easy one. No. I remember how it felt to be around Adam, even at first—_

**_Do you?_ **

_Yes. Now shut up. I remember how it was, and this isn't like that. Yang's different._

**_Could that mean she's just better at pretending?_ **

_I don't know._

**_Then why are you opening up to her at all?_ **

_Because she wants me to. And it's safest to give people what they want._

**_Is that the only reason?_ **

_No._

**_So you're already getting attached._ **

_...Yes, but that doesn't mean I'm letting my guard down._

**_Be aware for red flags so you can bail right away before things go south._ **

_Exactly._

**_But won't that be harder to do if you're attached?_ **

_It will. But if I keep myself closed off, I risk upsetting her. I'm_ **_living_ ** _with her. I need to stay on her good side._

 ** _You keep saying that's all it is, but you_ ** **_know_** ** _you want to be friends with her._ **

_Of_ **_course_ ** _I want to be friends with her. She's nice to me and I'm_ **_living_ ** _with her. I deserve to be at least a little happy._

**_Do you?_ **

_Shut up._

**_Is being happy worth the risk?_ **

_I don't know. But I think it's worth a_ **_try_** _. And I can't keep my walls up forever. It's exhausting. I_ **_need_ ** _a break._

**_What if you get hurt?_ **

_Whatever Yang could do to me, it can't be worse than what I've already survived._

**_What if_ ** **_Yang_** ** _gets hurt?_ **

_Maybe if I'm careful she won't. Either way, I don't have a choice. I_ **_need_ ** _her help to survive._

**_So she's just a tool?_ **

_No. She's more than that. I care about her happiness._

**_But that's dangerous._ **

_Should I care about her or not??_

**_…_ **

_That's what I thought._

**_You should be_ ** **_safe_** ** _._ **

_I'm_ **_being_ ** _safe._

**_And putting Yang at risk._ **

_It's a line I have to walk._

**_Do you think you_ ** **_can_** ** _?_ **

_I don't know._

**_...What_ ** **_is_** ** _Yang to you?_ **

Blake risked cracking an eye open to glance at Yang. She was focused on the road, shoulders moving side to side as she quietly danced to a song only she could hear. The light from the sun came in through her window, causing her hair to glow around the edges like a halo. Blake wouldn't deny that she was beautiful. And she seemed nice. Fun to be around. Fun to mess with sometimes, too. Blake wanted her to be happy. She closed her eye again.

_An ally. Someday, maybe even a friend._

**_Would you like that?_ **

_Yes. I would._


	8. Tukson's Book Trade

"Tukson's Book Trade!" Yang announced proudly as they approached a small shop in Vale's commercial district. "If you're in Vale, and you want some books, this is the place to get them!"

"Good to know about," Blake replied. "I wish it wasn't so far from the marina though… Is there a bus route that goes by here?"

"There is, and it's called asking me for a ride!" Yang answered cheerily.

"You don't have to do that for me," Blake mumbled.

"I don't," Yang agreed, "but that doesn't mean I don't _want_ to!" She opened the door and held it for Blake to walk through. As they stepped into the store, Blake breathed deeply and let out a long sigh, already seeming more relaxed and at home than she had been outside. Yang felt a smile spread across her face as Blake made a beeline for the fiction section.

"I'll be right out!" A deep voice called out from the back room.

"No rush!" Yang called back. She wandered over to join Blake, who had already grabbed several books from the shelves. "Found something you like?"

Blake turned to her and nodded. "They have a bunch of my old favorites in stock!" She explained.

"What sort of books do you like?" Yang asked, leaning casually against the wall. "I realize I never asked."

"Well, there's _The Man with Two Souls_ ," Blake began "It's about, well, a man with two souls—" 

Yang feigned a look of slack-jawed shock, earning an eye roll and a small snort from Blake. Someday, Yang vowed, she would get Blake to properly laugh, but in the meantime, she settled for the small smile that had found its home on Blake's lips as she continued. 

"Each soul fights for control over his body. On the surface, it's just a horror novel, but deeper down, it represents something you didn't know you had inside you. Then there's _The Corpse Doctor_. It's about a scientist who creates artificial life, but becomes overwhelmed with the responsibility of his creation and abandons it to fend for itself."

Yang felt a tug at her heart as the description struck a chord with her. "Maybe I should get a copy of that one," she said, trying not to let her bitterness show.

Blake's expression fell a little as she picked up on Yang's forced cheer. "You don't have to!" She said quickly. "It's _definitely_ not for everyone! I don't mind if you don't want—"

"Blake," Yang said, dropping the façade in favor of open honesty. "I really _am_ interested. The idea just… hits a personal note for me."

"Oh," Blake said softly. "I… I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Yang replied. "It's all in the past anyways." She gave Blake a small smile. "Are there any other books you like?" 

"Well, there's _Slave to the Sword_ , which is about a young woman who grew up surrounded by violence and bloodshed, but finds herself devoid of purpose once there is no more need for fighting. It talks about the difficulty of leaving behind the only life you ever knew. There's _The Thief and the Butcher_ , which is an adaptation of the traditional faunus tale _The Judgement of Faunus_. Then there's _The Vampire Count_ , which is about the fear of the other and the loss of control over women. _The Undead_ is about the fear of other people… Ooh! there's _The Boy who Fell From the Sky_ , which is about…"

As Blake rambled, Yang couldn't stop a dopey smile from creeping across her face. Watching the mostly quiet and soft-spoken woman ramble excitedly about a topic she was so passionate about set her heart aglow. And she found herself hanging onto every word, not so much because she was interested in the books themselves, but because hearing about Blake's reading tastes was giving her a glimpse of the things that Blake herself was passionate about. Themes like struggling with self-identity, leaving behind a life you grew up knowing, and freedom from control. Occasionally, she'd throw in a thoughtful comment or a witty joke to show that she really was paying attention to what Blake was saying, but for the most part she was content to sit back and listen as Blake led her around the store, pointing out some of her favorite books and occasionally grabbing one from the shelf.

Two of the books Blake grabbed in particular caught Yang's attention. The titles alone gave her a pretty good idea of what they were, and she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as Blake tried to surreptitiously tuck them under her arm. "What about those ones?" Yang asked, pointing. "They seem like they might be interesting, too!" Blake's cheeks flushed bright red, and Yang pressed on, with just the right mix of teasing and innocence to make Blake wonder how much she really knew. " _Ninjas of Love_ and _The Sais of Passion_. Mind telling me what _those_ are about?"

"Th–they're, uh, romance novels!" Blake stammered, clutching the books to her chest defensively.

"What _kind_ of romance?" Yang teased.

"Umm… a, uhh, _passionate_ romance!" Blake forced an innocent grin that wasn't at all convincing.

"Oh!" Yang exclaimed, as if she was only just figuring it out. "So smut?"

Blake's face was almost as red as Ruby's wardrobe by now. She slumped, looking away guiltily. "Yeah, I suppose that's one word for them," she muttered quietly.

"Well, I guess I'll have to check _those_ out, too," Yang drawled with an exaggerated wink.

Blake's gaze snapped back towards Yang as her eyes widened. " _Yang_!"

Yang laughed. "What? Lots of people read it! It's not like it's something worth being ashamed of!"

Blake's expression shifted to one of confusion. "You… don't think so?"

"Nope," Yang stated, popping the "p" for emphasis. "I feel like it's honestly silly that there's such a stigma around such a common thing. It feels kinda hypocritical, ya know?"

"I… _guess,_ " Blake admitted.

" _Buuut_ , that doesn't mean it's not fun to tease people about it," Yang added with a wink as she and Blake finally arrived at the counter, which was now occupied by a tall man with hazel eyes, black hair, and prominent sideburns.

"You two find everything you were looking for?" He asked warmly.

"Seems so!" Yang replied cheerily as Blake set her pile of books on the counter.

"You've got some real classics here," Tukson observed as he catalogued each book and added up the total. "Your friend's got good taste."

"Blake," Blake said somewhat sheepishly.

"Nice to meet you," Tukson said warmly. "Something tells me you might become a regular here," he added, gesturing to the pile of classic literature Blake had brought to the counter.

Blake shrugged, though she gave a small smile. "Maybe."

Tukson finished adding up the book prices and slid the pile back over to Blake. "Well, that'll be 120 lien for today," he announced.

Yang noticed Blake's ears pin instantly, and quickly pulled her card from her wallet and handed it over before Blake could apologize.

"I could have put some back…" Blake said guiltily.

Yang shrugged. "Yeah, but you seemed so excited about them! I couldn't make you do that."

"Yang, I already owe you too much--"

Blake was interrupted by Tukson clearing his throat. "Well, we _do_ have a discount for first time shoppers," he offered, catching Yang off guard. This was the first _she'd_ heard of such a thing.

"Wait," she asked, confused, "You never told _me_ about that!"

"Must have slipped my mind," Tukson replied, and Yang finally caught on. "Tell you what, since you're paying, I'll throw _your_ unused discount on too. That brings your total down to… 80 lien."

Yang glanced over at Blake, who seemed somewhat more at ease at the new price, and looked back to Tukson, mouthing a silent, "thank you" as she handed over her lien card.

Tukson smiled and ran the card before putting the books in a bag and handing it to Blake. "You two have a good day," he said.

"You too," Blake replied warmly.

"You too," Yang replied as well, before leading Blake towards the door. She opened the door to allow Blake to step out, and paused for a moment to call, "Bye Tukson!" over her shoulder before joining Blake outside, where she found the faunus nervously fidgeting with the handles of her bag. "You okay?" She asked softly.

"You… you were really willing to spend 120 lien on me just like that?" Blake asked.

Yang offered a gentle smile. "Blake, when you were talking about those books, you seemed _genuinely_ happy. I wasn't going to take that away from you just to save a few lien. I _want_ my boatmate to be happy, because seeing the people around me be happy makes _me_ happy. Besides," she added with a wink, her smile spreading into a smirk, "you've got a pretty cute smile."

Blake's cheeks turned bright red. "Th–thanks," she mumbled nervously, turning away slightly and rubbing the back of her neck nervously, though a small smile did return to her lips.

"There it is," Yang said with a grin. "Come on, wanna hit the clothing store next?"

Blake glanced back up at Yang, her smile a little wider. "Sure."


	9. Clothes-Minded

A bell dinged as Yang swung the door open and entered the clothing shop, with Blake close behind. Behind the counter was a very bored looking young woman, hunched over in a halfhearted attempt to hide the fact that she was using her scroll from the cameras. At the sound of the bell, the chocolate labrador ears on the top of her head perked up and she fumbled her scroll briefly before snapping upright to attention. "Hello, and welcome to—" She relaxed as she noticed Yang and a relieved smile crossed her face. "Oh! Hey, Yang!"

"Hey, Sable!" Yang greeted her in response. "Just looking to get some new clothes for my friend here."

"Oh, of course!" Sable gave a warm smile and turned to Blake. "We have a section specifically for faunus-friendly clothing in the back left if you'd like to take a look!"

Blake gave her a smile. "Thanks!"

Yang followed Blake as she walked off towards the back of the store. Occasionally she'd stop and check out a shirt or a pair of pants on the way, but she didn't seem to find anything to her liking. Eventually, they arrived at the faunus-friendly section, which was clearly marked by hanging signs. 

Yang had never actually explored this part of the store before. She didn't have a reason to. Now that she was here, however, she realized just how many different accommodations faunus might need to feel comfortable. There were hoodies and hats with holes cut in the top for ears, and warmer-looking ones with various-sized pockets sewn in to keep different types of ears covered in the cold weather. Some had their holes more towards the front, and Yang realized that they were probably for horns. There were pants with holes for tails, others with strange cuts to fit different leg types, and shirts with slits cut in the back for wings. Boots and shoes came in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, designed to fit everything from human-type feet, to paws, to hooves, to talons, and even webbed toes.

"I never realized just how inconvenient human clothing could be for faunus," she said aloud.

"Most people don't," Blake replied, looking through a display of shirts designed for human torsos. "In a lot of places, it can be hard to even _find_ retailers that sell faunus-friendly products. And sometimes, it's not even because they have a problem with us, either. Sometimes, people just kind of… forget we exist. Like, it doesn't even _occur_ to them that faunus could be shopping there. This place actually looks really good though. They have a huge variety of cuts, and unlike some places, they have standard clothing in this section as well."

"Standard meaning, stuff that fits humans too?"

"Yup." Blake held up a black shirt over her chest to check the fit. "Our bodies are _mostly_ identical to human ones after all," she explained. "Take me for example. Everything about me is identical to any human, except for my head. So shirts, pants, shoes, I need standard cuts. The only thing I need to be different is hats and hoods. But in a lot of places, I wouldn't be able to find shirts and pants that fit me in the faunus section, if there was even a faunus section at all. So, I'd have to do all my shopping in the human section, and then make a whole trip to the faunus section _just_ for hats and hoodies. Plus," she added, holding up the shirt, which said _I don't need to change, I'm already purr-fect_ on the front, for Yang to see, "if I wanted something like this, I wouldn't even be able to _get_ it in a standard cut." 

Blake turned the shirt back around to study it, before draping it over her arm and wandering over to another rack. Yang followed, stopping when a display of boots caught her eye. They were shaped like human boots on the outside, but the insides were shaped to fit all sorts of different feet. 

_Why would they go through all the trouble of making the outside look different from the inside?_ She wondered, before it hit her like a truck. "These are for people who need to pass," she murmured aloud.

"Hey, Yang."

"Hmm?" Yang turned to see Blake holding up a shirt with a pair of cat ears and the words, _You've got to be kitten me,_ on the chest.

"Oh," Yang said awkwardly, unsure of how to respond. "Um…"

"What is it?" Blake asked, a concerned note to her voice.

"It's just… I always thought that word was considered offensive," Yang explained.

"Kitten?"

Yang nodded.

"When it's used as a nickname towards a cat faunus, yes, it's usually seen as rather impolite," Blake explained. "But a lot of the words that are used to degrade faunus in general are also perfectly legitimate terms for actual animals. We're not going to say that you suddenly can't use those words in other contexts. And _most_ faunus aren't going to take issue with a simple pun. At least, no more than anyone else," she added with a small smirk. "It's really only an issue when you start _calling_ us animal terms. Even if it's a normal human term of endearment, and intended to be affectionate."

"Because a human might be given that nickname because of their personality or some other personal quirk, whereas with a faunus it's only ever because of their trait," Yang thought out loud, starting to understand.

"Exactly. Nobody would ever call a deer faunus 'kitten,' even if they'd readily use the same pet name for a human with a similar personality. It erases who we are, and makes it just about our trait. And when so many people see us as nothing more than animals _because_ of our traits..."

"It hits different when a human calls you an animal term, even if it's meant kindly," Yang finished. "I'd imagine that word in particular probably feels infantilizing, too?"

Blake smiled. "You're smart," she praised. "It's a _very_ common word for people to use to talk down on cat faunus, which is yet _another_ reason why most of us don't like it when a human calls us that. Obviously though, it varies by a person-to-person basis. It's actually fairly common for faunus to call each other animal-based terms of affection, and many faunus are actually okay with those sorts of terms if they're from an intimately trusted human, such as a romantic partner. But obviously, it's up to _us_ to decide who gets to call us what and when. If a faunus _does_ want you to call them 'kitten' or 'pup' or 'bunny'? They'll let you know." 

The last few words were muffled as Blake ducked into a rack of pants and shorts, and Yang turned to busy herself idly looking at some more shirts. Some of them were plain, with only various holes to distinguish them, while others had text printed on them, usually in the form of jokes. Some of them she got fairly quickly, others stumped her. Such as a brown t-shirt with slits in the back that said, _No, I don't like baseball._ Yang stared at it for several moments, trying and failing to get the joke.

"Bat faunus," Blake explained. Yang hadn't even noticed her come over.

"Oh!" Yang's lips spread in an amused grin. "That's a good one."

But Blake had already wandered off again. Yang wasn't too bothered; Blake seemed to be appreciating the space, and Yang absolutely wasn't going to restrict her today. If Blake wanted to flit around the store like a bumblebee in a garden, then Yang was more than happy to stay out of her way. Plus, Blake always seemed to come back when she had something she wanted to show her.

"Oh! There you are!"

Like now.

Yang turned to see Blake wearing a baseball-style cap with her ears sticking out of a pair of holes in the top. The words, _My eyes are down there_ were written on the front, along with an arrow pointing down.

Yang chuckled. "You know, if you actually want that, then I'll buy it for you," she offered. "You won't ever have to pay me back for that one."

Blake's eyes widened and she took the hat off her head, staring at it intently. "You don't have to do that for me," she said, though there didn't seem to be any shame in her voice this time. "It's just a dumb hat. I can pay you back for it."

"It's a dumb hat that amuses me," Yang countered. "I'd pay for it for the comedic value it brings me on its own. I mean, it's not like I'm not familiar with the joke that it's playing off of."

"You _do_ seem to love your comedy, don't you?" Blake observed rhetorically.

"It's why people keep me around!" Yang replied, the cheerfulness in her tone honed with years of practice to hide the painful truth behind the words. The moment she stopped being funny, she stopped being wanted. That was just how it was.

Blake smirked, seemingly none the wiser. "Well, your attempts at humor are certainly appreciated."

"Wait, _attempts_?!" Yang gasped in mock outrage. "Blake Belladonna, do you mean to imply that you don't find me breathtakingly hilarious?!"

Blake snorted in amusement. "'Breathtakingly,' huh?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow. "And what do you mean by that, _sweetheart_?"

Yang instantly felt a powerful pang of guilt, instinctively feeling like she'd crossed a line. "Can you not call me that?" She asked, looking down at the ground. "Please?"

She looked up to see Blake's eyes wide with guilt. "Gods, of course Yang!" She exclaimed quickly. "I'm _so_ sorry! I–I didn't know, I _swear—_ "

"Blake." Yang forced herself to power through her own feelings to comfort her panicking friend. "You're okay. I _promise_. I just… don't like being called that. That's all."

Blake hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently took Yang's left hand in her own, allowing Yang to easily pull away if she wanted. Yang closed her eyes and let out her breath, grounding herself to Blake's touch. She got the feeling Blake was doing the same thing.

She wasn't lying when she said she didn't like being called that word. If pressed, she'd always say that it was because it was a favorite of sleazy men hitting on her in bars, which also wasn't a lie, but she had a more personal dislike of the word as well. Something that she had the feeling Blake might understand, but she couldn't bring herself to say aloud. Truth be told, though, it had been a while since the word had actually shaken her. With creepy, drunk men twice her age, it was easy to twist her feelings for the word into anger, flashing a red-eyed death glare to get them to back off. In fact, it had become second-nature. But somehow that wasn't what happened with Blake. It wasn't even a conscious decision. Hearing it come from Blake's lips, it suddenly felt so much more like it had when she'd first learned to despise it, coming from the mouth of someone she'd trusted. Someone she'd _loved._ When it had been used as a chiding response to her cries for help. When it had been used as a threat of abandonment. 

Maybe Weiss was right. Maybe she _was_ already starting to fall.

"Yang…" Blake asked worriedly, her words cutting through Yang's thoughts like the beam of a lighthouse slicing through a thick fog. "Are you okay?"

Yang nodded, not quite confident enough to open her eyes again. "Yeah. Thanks." Numbly, as touch always was through her prosthetic, she felt Blake take her right hand in hers as well, giving a firm squeeze. Yang took one more deep breath to center herself, then opened her eyes.

And came face-to-face with Blake's _stupid_ hat.

It really wasn't _that_ funny of a hat. Amusing, to be sure, but it wouldn't have been enough for more than a small snort on its own. But whether intentionally or not, while Yang's eyes had been closed Blake had scooched close enough that the brim was mere inches away from Yang's face, and she'd looked down at their feet, bringing the hat's text almost exactly to Yang's eye level. And it was just about the _last_ thing Yang had been expecting to see when she opened her eyes. She couldn't help herself.

She started laughing.

At first, it was just a low giggle, but it quickly deteriorated into a full-on belly laugh, snorts and all as she struggled for breath. 

Suddenly she became aware of another sound next to her. It was little more than a chuckle, but it was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever heard. She looked up to see a smile on Blake's lips, her golden eyes sparkling like fireworks. It was breathtaking.

And just as quickly, it was gone. Blake noticed her gaze and immediately the smile fell from her face, replaced by a light blush as she looked away in embarrassment. Almost as if she'd been taught that her laugh was something to be ashamed of. Yang made a mental note to stab Mystery Douchebag if they ever met.

Suddenly, she realized that both her hands were still holding Blake's, and almost sheepishly she released her grip.

Blake started, apparently just realizing the same thing, and quickly let go of Yang's hands as well and pulled hers away. "S–sorry," she mumbled.

"No! No," Yang replied immediately. "You don't need to apologize!"

But Blake was already taking a step back. "I'm, ah, I'm gonna go look for some more clothes!" She stammered out quickly, before disappearing into the sea of clothes racks.

Yang just stood there a moment, heart aching a little more than it had any right to. _What did I do wrong?_

After several moments, she sighed and began to wander absent-mindedly through the clothing racks, occasionally pulling out a random shirt just to give herself something to do. There were a lot of in-jokes that she didn't think she'd ever quite get, but some were amusing enough to lighten her heart just a little. She chose not to think about why it might have been so heavy in the first place. A black hoodie with cat-ear pockets with the words _I don't hate you, I just haven't had my tuna yet_ printed on the front in particular earned the tiniest of snorts, but just as her mood was beginning to recover, she stumbled across a rack of tees that felt like being doused in cold water. They still featured bold, brightly colored text emblazoned across the front, but the messages this time were entirely different.

"We are not animals!"

"Remember the Mantle Massacre"

"We're still people!"

It was a painful reality check for someone who had the privilege to have briefly forgotten about many of the wrongs in the world.

"Yang?"

Yang started slightly at the sound of Blake's voice and looked over to see her approaching from the changing rooms. "Are you okay?" Yang asked softly. "You just ran off."

Blake stood next to her and looked at the display. "It's sad, really, that we need to say these things," she said, and Yang forced down a twinge of irritation at the deflection. Blake couldn't have known that her running off had upset her as much as it had. "You start to think that things might actually be getting better, that there might _actually_ be progress, and then something like Mantle happens and you have to wonder if we've even gotten anywhere at all."

Yang sighed, accepting that she wasn't going to get her answer. "There really isn't a way for me to know, besides listening to the faunus," Yang replied. "I mean, as a human, there's just so many variables. How aware I am of the things going on around me. How well other humans are hiding it. How aware I am of what even _is_ offensive. Like, I didn't even realize it was offensive to distract a cat faunus with a laser pointer until my freshman year of college. Nobody had ever told me."

"Well, that's why listening to our voices is important," Blake replied. "And why it's so important for you to use yours to amplify the things we say. The words of a human will _always_ be taken more seriously than the words of a faunus."

"Sometimes I don't really know what words to spread though," Yang admitted. "I hear different things from different people."

She felt Blake's hand rest on her shoulder. "That's why it's important to understand when you know _more_ than the people you're talking to, and when you know _less_. When you're talking to people who don't understand something that you do, of course you should try to educate them, or at least provide a different perspective. If you've heard conflicting things, then say so. Every take is valid as long as it is well-informed, and alternate perspectives can help people better understand the whole issue. But the moment somebody who understands the topic better than you do walks in the door, it's your job to shut up, and listen." Blake let the advice sit for a moment before squeezing Yang's shoulder and letting go. "I, uh, I found everything I needed, so we can go to checkout if you want."

Yang nodded. "Sure thing."

Sable's lips split in a grin as she saw them approaching, her eyes firmly on Blake. "All set?" She asked cheerily.

Blake nodded and laid the clothes on the counter. "Yeah, thanks."

Sable quickly scanned each one and pressed a few buttons on the cash register before turning to Blake with a gleam in her eyes. "So," she drawled, "your total _would_ be 80 lien, _buuuut_ , with our special discount, I can knock that down to 70."

"Why didn't I hear about this??" Yang asked, struggling to process that this was the second time in a row that this was happening.

"Because this discount is for cute customers only," Sable replied effortlessly, tossing a shameless wink Blake's way and causing her to flush bright red as she pushed a slip of receipt paper and a pen across the counter. "Extra ten percent off if you _sign up_ with your phone number."

Normally Yang would have shot back something sharp-witted and humorous about not being a 'cute customer', but any response she might have had died in her suddenly-tight throat.

"Th–thanks, but I'm… not really looking for anything right now," Blake stammered back, and somehow that didn't make Yang feel any better.

"I understand," Sable replied good-naturedly. There was a brief silence before she cleared her throat. "Someone's going to pay for this, right?"

"Oh!" Yang exclaimed, blushing guiltily and handing her card over. "Sorry…"

"You okay?" Blake asked her softly.

"I'm fine," Yang lied. "I just spaced out a little."

Blake still seemed worried, but she said nothing as Sable handed Yang back her card and they began to make their way to the doors of the store. 

Just before they reached the exit, Yang noticed Blake falling behind and gazing longingly at a black crop-top with a cutout pattern over the chest. "You want that one?" She asked, walking back to stand next to her.

"I…" Blake looked down at her own stomach, her ears drooping sadly as her left hand lightly touched her hip. "Maybe another time," she said quietly. "Let's just go."


	10. Compromise

The hustle and bustle of the supermarket was loud even to Yang's ears, so it really should have been no surprise that Blake's pinned instantly the moment they stepped through the sliding doors. As dozens of people scurried about, pushing past them and occasionally throwing dirty glances Blake's way— the meanings of which Yang didn't need to guess— Blake seemed to curl into herself nervously.

"You okay?" Yang asked softly, careful not to overwhelm her friend's sensitive hearing.

"Yeah," Blake replied quietly. "There's just… a _lot_ of people." A burly man shoved past her roughly, and she flinched in a way Yang hadn't seen since she'd first pulled her out of the water, gasping sharply as her eyes squeezed shut.

"Come on," Yang said softly. "Let's get out of here."

Blake's eyes snapped open and she shook her head quickly. "No!" She exclaimed. "We–we don't have to do that! I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Yang asked, locking eye contact. "I know some other places that are usually much quieter." She decided not to mention that those other places were significantly more expensive, feeling more than a little guilty for not realizing that this one would be overwhelming for Blake.

"I…" Blake looked away nervously, seemingly fighting between her need to escape and her instincts to not be inconvenient.

Another person bumped into Blake from behind, pushing her aside and muttering something that sounded nasty under his breath, and she stiffened. As Blake began to lose control of her breathing, Yang decided to make the choice for her. "Come on," she said softly, grabbing Blake's hand and wincing as she immediately grabbed back with a grip strong enough to be painful even through the dulled senses of her prosthetic. "This place always runs out of stock during rushes anyways."

Blake was shaking by the time they reached the car, and as they sat down Yang reached over and held both of her hands firmly. Apparently that still wasn't enough to ground her, though, as Blake leaned across the space between the seats and pressed her forehead firmly against Yang's shoulder.

"It's okay, Blake," Yang cooed, stroking her thumbs across Blake's knuckles as the ravenette's breathing began to hitch and tears began to soak into the sleeve of her shirt. "If you need to cry, you can cry. It's just us here. It'll be okay."

Blake's whimpering became a little louder in spite of her shaking her head, but it was clear that she was still holding herself back, fighting to keep the broken pieces together when they both knew she really needed to just let herself fall apart. But Yang couldn't blame her. She knew how scary it was to let yourself come undone like that, to shed all your armor and lay your soul bare and defenseless in front of someone else, and she'd never expect Blake to do that for someone she'd met only 24 hours ago. All she could do was be here for her, and do her best to reassure Blake that she was safe.

"I'm sorry," Blake whimpered.

"What for?" Yang asked softly.

"For being such a coward!"

"You are _not_ a coward, Blake." Yang said firmly.

"But I _am_!" Blake protested. "I'm _crying_ because a couple of strangers _bumped into me_!"

"Crying doesn't make you a coward," Yang murmured, her tone softening. "If it did, well, I cry more than Weiss and my own little sister put together, so what would that say about me?"

"But I'm still so afraid of everything!" Blake insisted.

"Blake, can you look at me?" Yang asked softly, meeting Blake's eyes as the ravenette tore her forehead away from her shoulder. "Courage isn't about not being afraid. It's about standing up to your fears." She briefly stopped stroking Blake's knuckles to give both her hands a firm squeeze. "And how many times have you faced your fears, just since you met me?"

"But I didn't, though," Blake sniffled. "I was just running away from the other choices because they scared me even more."

"You came to my party because you were more afraid of not coming?" Yang asked, posing it as a genuine question rather than a rhetorical one. "You made friends with _The_ Velvet Scarlatina in like, 15 seconds because you were more afraid of _not_ talking to her? You agreed to go to a freaking _horror_ movie with me because you were more afraid of staying home? You let me patch you up because you were more afraid of doing it yourself?" Blake looked away guiltily, but she looked back when Yang gently squeezed her hands again, and something in her expression encouraged Yang to start trying to lighten the mood. "I mean, I'm willing to hear you out on those," she teased lightly, "but I have to say I'm a _liiittle_ skeptical."

Blake's lips twitched with a brief hint of a smile, but she said nothing.

"And even when you _are_ afraid of both choices," Yang continued, "just think of how brave that must mean you are _then_! No matter _what_ decision you make, you're _still_ facing your fears!" She let a wide, dumb grin spread onto her face before adding, "that makes you like, _double_ brave!"

Blake managed the tiniest of laughs. "I'm pretty sure that's not how that works."

"That's _totally_ how that works," Yang replied with a comedic overconfidence. "Trust me! I'm the second bravest person I know!"

"Who's the first?" Blake asked, taking the bait.

Yang smirked, her voice briefly softening. "I'm looking at her."

Blake's eyes narrowed. "Doesn't that mean I still know how it works better than you do?"

"Hey, I said I was _brave_ ," Yang replied. "I never said I was _smart_."

"What," Blake asked, a hint of a chuckle seeping into her tone, "so now I'm braver than you _and_ smarter than you?"

"Yup!" Yang replied with complete sincerity and confidence. "And _you've_ just proven it."

Blake narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Curse you and your fiendish ways," she muttered, though her tone could almost be described as affectionate.

Yang simply closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue proudly.

"I can't believe _you_ outsmarted _me_ into proving _I'm_ smarter than _you_!" Blake growled, letting go of Yang's hands and placing her own in her lap. "How do you even accomplish that?!"

"By simultaneously being both way smarter _and_ way dumber than either of us thinks I am," Yang replied matter-of-factly.

"Should I be concerned that that actually kind of made sense?"

Yang shrugged. "Eh, probably." She leaned over towards Blake and pantomimed elbowing her playfully, taking care not to actually touch her. "Also, _juuust_ throwing it out there that this is the _second_ time in a row we've _proven_ what an awesome, kick-ass person you are, so like, I'm not gonna say 'I told you so', _buuut—_ "

Blake playfully shoved at her shoulder. "Are you _always_ such an ass when you're right?"

"Nah. Just sometimes." Suddenly her eyes lit up. "You just said I was right! So you _do_ admit that you're an awesome, kick-ass person!" She threw up her hands triumphantly. "Victory!"

Blake rolled her eyes fondly. "You're really not gonna stop until you give me a massively over-inflated ego, are you?"

"Not true." Yang replied cheerfully. "I'll stop when you have an ego befitting a true work of art. Because that's what you are."

"You know, a child's painting is still technically a work of art," Blake pointed out.

"Yup!" Yang chirped, refusing to be thrown for a loop. "And it's a beautiful thing! A raw, pure expression of emotion unbridled by the shackles that simple society has created to define the world. A product of undiluted passion and joy, made not because it was demanded or requested, but because a single soul decided that _their_ feelings were worth recording." She turned to Blake and grinned smugly. "I think that's a _perfect_ analogy."

" _Ugh_!" Blake groaned, thunking her head against the headrest in exasperation. " _Why_ do I keep _giving_ you more ways to _gloat_?!"

Yang gave a victorious laugh as she turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. "You know, I _love_ it when you're feisty."

* * *

Blake seemed in good spirits when they pulled into the parking lot of the next supermarket. She followed Yang into the store with a smile on her face, and though she seemed to shrink ever so slightly at the noise inside, she didn't seem nearly as nervous as before. Her ears flicked about as they caught sounds from all over the store, and she shuffled a half-step closer to Yang as the blonde grabbed a shopping cart and headed inside.

Even though this store was quieter than the other one, it was still busy, and Yang could practically see as the bustle slowly but surely took its toll on Blake's social battery. The ravenette fought valiantly to hide it, but Yang could see the tension as it creeped into her shoulders, and as her ears stood just a _bit_ too straight and stiff to be natural. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do. Blake probably wasn't chomping at the bit for a conversation right now, and she _certainly_ wouldn't accept Yang dragging her out of the store again in another attempt to find someplace quieter. The best thing she could do for Blake was to stay quiet, and try to make the trip go as smoothly as possible.

As they wandered the store, their cart filled up with all sorts of things, from frozen meals to canned tuna. Since Yang was partially shopping for her own restocking purposes, and Blake flatly _refused_ to express a preference for any particular brands, Yang simply defaulted to her personal favorites for anything that they both wanted. Which turned out to be almost everything on their list, since Blake never requested anything that Yang herself didn't already like. Yang had the feeling that was deliberate, but she didn't bother bringing it up. However, there was one thing on the list that Yang _didn't_ have a favorite brand for, and that was tea, for the simple reason that she just didn't drink the stuff. So as she stood next to her in front of the store's selections of teas, Yang, perhaps naïvely, believed she'd finally get the chance to learn something about Blake's tastes.

"Go ahead," Yang chirped. "Pick out your favorite!"

"I'll just take whatever you usually get," Blake replied submissively.

"I don't actually drink tea myself," Yang admitted, "so just go ahead and get whatever you like!"

Blake's ears drooped a little, but she didn't argue. She studied the selection for almost a minute, brow furrowed in thought, before finally grabbing a box of the store brand black tea.

"Store brand?" Yang asked, surprised. "Nuh-uh. Get yourself the good stuff."

Blake's ears flattened fully. "No, I… I want the store brand." She said quietly.

"Blake," Yang pressed, "I can--"

"Yang," Blake pleaded. "Please…" She took in a deep, slightly shaky breath. "You've already done way too much for me in _way_ too little time. I know you're trying to be nice, but…" Blake sighed and looked down at her feet for several moments, right arm crossing over her stomach to clutch her left elbow. "It's making me nervous," she admitted finally. "I don't… I don't like feeling like I owe someone else this much."

_But you_ **_don't_ ** _owe me,_ Yang wanted to argue. But she understood that it wasn't that simple. On top of being slowly worn down by the bustle of the store, Blake had been pushing herself hard to accept what Yang was giving her, but her trauma wasn't going to disappear overnight, and Yang knew that she was bound to hit a wall eventually. Trying to push Blake further out of her comfort zone would only hurt her more. Instead, she simply nodded. "Okay."

Blake seemed a little surprised at the immediate acceptance, but she remained quiet and distant for the rest of the trip and through checkout, visibly cringing at the total. As they entered the car and started home, Yang had hoped that Blake might start to recover. But if anything, she only seemed more withdrawn as she stared out the window, ears flat against her head. After several minutes, Yang decided to try and talk to her. "What's biting at you?" She asked gently.

"It's stupid," Blake muttered.

"If it's bothering you, then I'd beg to differ," Yang pressed softly.

Blake didn't react for a long time, and Yang was getting ready to forget the topic entirely when the faunus finally turned and eyed her carefully. "I know I should be grateful for everything you've done…" she began cautiously, almost as if she was afraid of Yang lashing out. "But I just… I really don't like how much money you spent on me today."

Yang nodded. "I get that. And I _don't_ think that's ungrateful of you, because I understand. But everything we bought today was important. And the good news is, we won't be needing to make a big shopping trip like this again. You should be set now."

Blake sighed and looked down at her feet, and though some of the tension in her body seemed to have lessened, Yang supposed that was more to do with realizing she wasn't in immediate physical danger than anything else.

"Hey," Yang said softly. "Talk to me. What's going on in the old noodle?"

"I just…" Blake sighed again and ran a hand through her bangs. "I _know_ I need to pay it all back. A–and I'm _going_ to!" She added quickly, as if to preempt a physical strike, before relaxing slightly when Yang simply waited patiently for her to continue. "But… it's just overwhelming to think about how much it all is."

Yang nodded understandingly. "What if I told you that I genuinely don't think you should need to pay back the whole thing?"

Blake let out a heavy sigh that seemed to take much of her tension with it. "I'd say I _really_ should have seen that coming, and I'd ask you to explain why on _the gods' earth_ you'd think that way."

"One, because some of the things we bought are things I might wind up using," Yang began to explain, occasionally glancing over at Blake to gauge her reaction. "If that's the case, then I feel like it's only fair for me to cover some of it, right?"

"I… I _guess_ " Blake admitted reluctantly.

"And two, because I don't want you to feel overwhelmed by how much we spent today. It's not your fault that you needed these things."

"It's not yours, either," Blake countered.

"I suppose that's true, too," Yang conceded, "but it needs to be paid _somehow_ , and if we're both equally _not_ to blame, then wouldn't it make sense for us to pay equally too?"

Blake seemed to think for a moment, but it was clear that she still wasn't happy with the arrangement.

"Hey, what about a compromise?" Yang offered, an idea striking her. "We pick an amount for you to work off to start. Whatever would feel the least overwhelming, between feeling manageable and feeling sufficient. Once you've worked that much off, we can sit down and talk about how we both feel about the rest, okay?"

Blake's ears perked up at the suggestion, and she thought for another moment before slowly nodding. "Okay, I can be happy with that."

Yang felt a lopsided grin spread across her face. "Great!"

"Can… can we start at two thirds?" Blake asked.

"Is that what would make you feel the most at ease?" Yang asked back gently.

Blake thought for another moment, then nodded.

"Okay," Yang stated. "We'll start at two thirds, and then once we're there, we'll talk again. And just so you know," she added after a moment, "if at _any_ point you start to feel differently about that amount before then, just come talk to me and we'll work something out, 'kay?"

Blake nodded again, the faintest hint of a smile touching her face for the first time since they'd entered the store. "Okay, I will," she agreed. "Thank you."

Yang grinned. "Anytime, Blake." She thought for a moment, then spoke again. "But, if it's okay with you, I'm _still_ paying for that hat."


	11. Equals

The next morning, Yang found Blake already awake once again, sipping tea from a mug while she sat on the couch. She seemed relatively relaxed and alert, but Yang could tell that it had been another rough night for her. Subtle bags hung below her eyes, her ears drooped a little at the tips, and Yang watched as the ravenette let out one of her illegally adorable yawns. Her left ear swiveled lazily towards Yang as the blonde shuffled out of her room and into the main cabin.

“Mornin’, Blake,” Yang mumbled sleepily, before letting out a yawn of her own. "Dammit, you're contagious."

Blake gave a weak snort. “Morning to you, too.”

"How long have you been up?" Yang asked, wandering over to the kitchen to scrounge together some breakfast. "Have you eaten?"

Blake shrugged. "I didn't check the time when I woke up. I… kind of knew I wasn't falling back asleep again." She sighed. "So I just… made myself some tea and sat down."

"Ugh, I _hate_ it when that happens," Yang empathized. "Want me to make you something while I'm on my feet?"

"A breakfast sandwich would be fine," Blake replied. "I–if you don't mind, of course."

Yang hummed and pulled a pair of frozen sandwiches from the freezer and popped them in the microwave. A short minute later the microwave beeped and she set the sandwiches on a plate. "Jaune and Pyrrha went out for an evening cruise last night and their power steering failed," she said. "They asked me to take a look at it today."

Blake let out a small "hm?" as she looked up at her, her ears perking forward with interest.

"You can come help out if you want," Yang offered, walking back to the table before stopping, unsure if sitting down now would make Blake feel trapped. "Get you your first paycheck."

"Oh! Sure!" Blake said eagerly. "I–if you want me to?" She added quickly.

"Do _you_ want to?" Yang asked back.

For a brief moment, nervousness flashed across Blake's face, but then it was gone, and she nodded. "Yeah," she said confidently. "I want to." Then a smirk spread across her lips, a hint of a feisty sparkle in her eyes. "Now, are you gonna sit down and give me my sandwich or do I need to come and take it myself?"

* * *

After eating breakfast, putting their hair up in ponytails, and texting Jaune to let him know they were coming, Yang and Blake found themselves on the dock next to _Arkos_ , a toolbox clutched in the blonde's hand. The bustle of the city filled the air, even at this morning hour, and a pair of seagulls had decided that the din of honking horns and screeching tires wasn't chaotic enough and were now screaming at each other and fighting over a crab. The air was warm, but a cool, salty sea breeze occasionally blew in and provided some relief.

Up close, _Arkos_ 's age was fairly apparent. The chrome of her fittings was scuffed and worn, her hull had long lost its sheen, and the teak trim around the deck was nearly black from age. She was still a handsome boat, with classic, timeless lines and stately proportions, and by no standards was she in disrepair, but it was clear that she was a home, not a showpiece. Yang gave a quick knock on the hull and a moment later Jaune and Pyrrha stepped out onto the back deck.

"Hello Yang!" Pyrrha sang. "Hello again, Blake!"

Blake gave a friendly wave and followed behind as Yang stepped aboard.

"I put in a bit of power steering fluid for you this morning," Jaune said as he opened the hatch in the back deck.

"You didn't have to do that," Yang replied, kneeling down and setting down her toolbox.

"Yeah, but I figured I'd help you out." Jaune said with a shrug.

"Well, thanks for that," Yang grunted as she lay down and shuffled about until she was reasonably comfortable. Grabbing her flashlight, she clicked it on and groaned as nothing happened. "Dammit."

"What is it?" Blake asked quickly, almost skidding to a stop next to her. Her head filled Yang's peripheral vision as she bent down to look. 

"Nothing," Yang replied. "Dumb flashlight's just out of batteries." She looked over at Blake and a realization struck her. "Wait… how well can you see down here?"

"Perfectly fine," Blake replied. "Why?"

"I've got a job for you."

Blake's ears perked up with interest. "What is it?"

"Stay here and keep your eyes on this thing," Yang pointed to the stainless steel power steering cylinder, "and all the hoses that connect to it. I'm going to go into the cabin and turn the wheel, and I want you to see if you can find anywhere it might be leaking, okay?"

Blake nodded. "Okay."

Yang pushed herself up and quickly turned around, feeling her entire face grow warm. Blake's new pants fit her really, _really_ well. Yang didn't even bother looking at Pyrrha's face as she walked into the cabin, already knowing the teasing smirk she'd find there. She took her place at the helm and called back to Blake. "Ready?"

"Yep!" Came the muffled reply.

Yang spun the helm all the way to port, then all the way to starboard. She started to turn it back to port again before she heard Blake call out.

"Is the cylinder _supposed_ to be moving around?"

"...No?" Yang made her way back to the stern and knelt down next to Blake. "Did you manage to see where it was leaking from?"

"This hose," Blake replied, pointing. 

"Good work," Yang praised. "Now, why don't you go give the wheel a spin and I'll take a look at the cylinder."

"Okay." Blake hopped up, and after a few seconds Yang heard her call from the cabin. "Ready?"

"Yep!" Yang replied. A moment later, the power steering cylinder began to shift, pulling to one side and then the other as Blake turned the wheel to starboard, then to port. "Okay, come back. I need your eyes again." She heard the padding of feet and a moment later Blake's head appeared next to her again, ears perked forward eagerly. "This time, I need you to watch for where it's moving from," Yang explained. "Pay attention to these areas specifically." She gestured to the points where the cylinder was mounted to a set of beams that ran lengthwise along the bottom of the hull.

Blake nodded and focused in on the beams, even her ears perking forward alertly. Yang returned to the wheel and started to spin it from side to side again. "It… looks like the beams are flexing?" Blake called back to her.

"As in, the brackets and everything are all secure, but the beams themselves are what's moving?" Yang asked.

"Yeah."

Yang released the wheel and sucked in a breath through her teeth as she made her way back out to the back deck. "That's… _really_ bad."

"What is it?"

"Fiberglass delamination, most likely. Probably rot in the beam underneath, too. It happens when fiberglass hasn't been well cared for. Water gets into a crack in the surface, and the layers of fiberglass start to separate from each other. It's most common on deck surfaces, but it can happen anywhere there's fiberglass." She gestured to the lengthwise beams. "These are called stringers. They're wooden beams that run the entire length of the boat to strengthen her, and on a fiberglass boat they're usually sealed with fiberglass to protect them from rotting. _Arkos_ here didn't have power steering when she was first built. That rack was added by a previous owner, who evidently did a sloppy job of it and cracked the fiberglass while they were bolting the rack in. That let bilgewater seep in, freeze and thaw throughout the seasons, and peel apart the fiberglass layers. That's the best case scenario. Worst case is that water's _also_ soaked into the wooden beam and caused it to start rotting."

"How much would that be to fix?" Jaune asked.

"Well, fiberglass repair isn't something I know how to do properly, so you'd need to find an expert and get a quote. But long story short? Expensive with a capital 'e'. Even more so if the beam's rotted."

Pyrrha shook her head with resignment. "This boat will be the death of me."

Jaune walked up behind her and rubbed her shoulders comfortingly. "It's the life we chose, Pyr."

"I can get you a new hose and recommend you a guy for the fiberglass repair, but that's about all I can do for you. With any luck, he can get down here soon and let you know how bad it is. Hopefully it's still sturdy enough to get you to the end of the boating season. My guess is probably, but don't quote me on that unless he agrees."

"Would you mind getting the hose?" Jaune asked. "Might as well fix what you can, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Yang replied. "I'll be back in a sec."

"Let me get it!" Blake blurted out eagerly, grabbing Yang's right arm to stop her before quickly pulling her hand away when Yang gasped. "Sorry!" She exclaimed, ears pinning. "Sorry, I–I didn't mean— I shouldn't have—"

"It's okay, Blake," Yang replied before Blake could spiral, keeping her voice soft even as the usual sourness related to her prosthetic arose. "You don't have to get it for me."

"But I want to!" Blake replied quickly.

Yang conceded with a nod. "Okay. Normally, we'd want to take the old hose out first so that we can see what size it is, but this isn't the first time I've worked on _Arkos_ 's power steering system." She pulled out her scroll. "Here, lemme make a note of the size." She typed some numbers and letters into a note and handed the scroll to Blake. "I keep the spare hoses in a compartment under the bed in my room. Try to find one with those numbers written on the side, that's at least as long as the old one. If it's a lot longer, grab a saw too and we can cut it. Otherwise, just bring the hose and we'll make it work."

Blake nodded. "Okay. I'll be right back!" She stepped onto the dock and hurried off.

"Poor girl," Pyrrha murmured once Blake was safely out of earshot. "She's lucky you found her."

"She would have drowned otherwise," Yang replied, nervously clenching and unclenching her right hand.

"No, she's lucky _you_ found her," Pyrrha clarified. "You're one of the most kind-hearted and understanding people I know. I can't think of _anybody_ at this marina who'd be able to take better care of her."

"I just hope I'm enough," Yang sighed.

After a pause, Pyrrha spoke up, noticing Yang's fidgeting. "You don't really think she was upset by the prosthetic, do you?" She asked.

Yang's hand stilled, and she sighed. "No, I know. It's just…"

"Instinctive?" Pyrrha offered.

Yang nodded as she wandered into _Arkos_ 's cabin. "It still doesn't feel like a part of me. Painting it so it wasn't that soulless gray color helped, but…" she slumped down on the couch. "I don't know why it feels so… separate. It's the same weight, it moves the same way, and I can even feel through it! I should be able to just forget about it, but for some reason I just can't."

"You've only had it for a couple weeks," Pyrrha reasoned. "And before that, you had to spend _months_ learning how to do everything with your off-hand. I'm not that surprised that having two arms again might feel a little unfamiliar."

"Yeah, maybe," Yang conceded. "But I also see the way people look at it. It feels like people judge me for it, and I can always see that same question on the tips of their tongues; 'what happened to you?'"

"Maybe it's a cyclical thing?" Jaune suggested. "If you don't feel like it's a part of you, then you'll automatically read other people's actions as if they feel the same way… Or, something like that, right?"

"I think clarifying to Blake what your boundaries are with it could be very helpful for both of you," Pyrrha suggested. "She's clearly terrified of crossing them, but boundaries are hard not to cross when you don't know where they are. If you want her to treat it like any other part of you, then I think you should make sure she knows that."

Yang let out a sigh and nodded. "I know. And I will. Once I figure out how to say it," she added with a mumble.

A moment later they felt the boat rock and a slightly out of breath Blake appeared on the back deck, holding a piece of hose in her right hand and pressing her left against the side of her stomach. "I got it!" She called out.

"Awesome," Yang called back, standing up from the couch. "Thanks, Blake." She made her way out onto the back deck and lowered her voice so that only Blake could hear. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Blake replied dismissively. "I'm fine."

"It's not hurting you too badly?" Yang pressed softly.

Blake's ears drooped slightly. "It hurts a little," she admitted, "but I can deal."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "'You can deal' as in 'you don't want to be a burden'? Or as in 'it genuinely doesn't bother you too much'?"

"It's genuinely not that bad," Blake reassured her truthfully. "It'll be gone in a minute or two anyways."

Yang nodded. "Okay. Thank you. If there's anything you need—"

"Don't hesitate to ask," Blake finished, a softness to her voice and smile that made Yang's heart ache just a little. "I know. Thank you." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and when she opened them again that hint of a feisty sparkle had returned. "Now, don't we have a job to do?"

Yang couldn't stop a lopsided smile from spreading across her face, and she cracked off a two-fingered salute. "Yes, ma'am!" She knelt down next to the open hatch and opened her toolkit. "First, we gotta make sure we got everything we need. New hose, new clamps, plastic tub, damp rag, and screwdriver," she said, setting each item down on the deck as she listed them off. "Next, we need to make sure we don't accidentally bump anything into the bilge. Not a big deal if we do, just something to be aware of."

Blake nodded in response.

"Next, we find the power steering reservoir. That's this right here." Yang tapped a stainless steel cylinder mounted off to the side. "When we work on the hoses, we want to try and avoid spilling power steering fluid all over the place, so the first step is to drain it all out of the reservoir and into here." Yang lay back down on her stomach and slid the container underneath the reservoir and pointed to a valve. "Go ahead and turn that valve, and keep it open until the fluid stops coming out." Yang watched as Blake lay down as well and turned the valve, and they both waited patiently for the fluid to stop dripping before Blake glanced at Yang for confirmation. Yang nodded, and Blake shut the valve. "Nice work," she praised. "Next, we need to go back over _here_ ," she grunted as she shuffled on her belly back over to the offending hose, "and undo these hose clamps."

As Blake shuffled next to her, her elbow accidentally knocked one of the new hose clamps down into the bilge, where it rattled off somewhere out of view. Blake gasped, ears pinning as she went stiff. "Oh my gods, I'm _so_ sorry!" She exclaimed quickly. "I'm _so_ sorry, Yang! I _swear_ I didn't mean to—"

"Easy," Yang cooed, quickly reaching over and holding Blake's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "It's okay, Blake. Really. It's just a hose clamp. That's why we bring spares, right?"

Blake nodded, breathing shakily.

"Hey," Yang asked softly, "Do you want to take a break?"

Blake shook her head. "I'll be fine," she said thickly. "I just… need a moment."

Yang nodded, gently stroking Blake's knuckles as she felt the ravenette give her hand a firm squeeze. "Even _I_ still drop stuff down there from time to time," Yang admitted. "It's a completely normal accident to have."

Blake nodded. "I'll go down there and get it in a moment," she said quietly.

Yang chuckled. "Oh, gods no. That little guy is _gone_. Hose clamps cost like, 2 lien each at _most_ , so if they scamper off there's no point in chasing them down."

Blake's ears drooped again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Yang replied softly, gently pressing her forehead against Blake's. "It's seriously okay. I swear."

"It's not going to cause any trouble down there?"

"Not at all. Hell, _Bumblebee_ probably has a hundred lien worth of tools, screws, and clamps rattling around down there at this point, and she's doing just fine! One hose clamp isn't gonna make the boat blow up."

Blake nodded slowly. “Okay,” she breathed. “Thank you. We… we were going to undo the old hose clamps, right?”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Yang chided affectionately, letting go of Blake’s hand and lightly bumping their shoulders together. “And yeah. Go ahead and grab the screwdriver and start undoing the screws on one of them. And don't worry if you drop it. There's really no point in reusing them either way."

Blake nodded and reached out towards the hose. Yang shuffled to the side to give her space, and Blake grunted out a small "thanks" as she scooched over to take Yang's old spot, ending up a bit closer to Yang than was really necessary for her to reach the hose. Yang tried very hard not to stare as Blake scrunched up her nose in concentration as she removed the first hose clamp, letting out a small squeak as she nearly fumbled it into the bilge.

"Want me to take that?" Yang offered, reaching down to offer her hand. Blake nodded and placed the clamp in Yang's palm, fingers briefly brushing against the smooth metal. It shouldn't have been as thrilling as it was. After all, Yang and Blake had already held hands several times now. But something about this ghostly, unplanned touch sent sparks shooting through Yang's body. She barely managed to suppress a shiver.

Blake finished undoing the second hose clamp and handed it to Yang, who set both the clamps aside before turning back to see Blake looking at her expectantly. Yang hoped the flush to her cheeks wasn't as bright as it felt. "Do, uh, do you want to take the hose off or should I?" Yang asked, stammering slightly.

Blake looked down at the hose. "Do I just grab and pull?" She asked, glancing back up at Yang.

Yang nodded. "Try to pull it like you're pulling out an electrical plug."

"Okay." Blake grabbed one end of the hose and pulled gently, and the end of the hose slowly slid off of the coupling, letting a tiny bit of power steering fluid dribble out and join the rest of the bilge sludge. She did the same with the other end, and held up the freed hose triumphantly. In the open light, Yang could see a thin crack running lengthwise along it.

"Alright," Yang said as Blake set aside the old hose and started to reach for the new one. "Before we put the new one in, we want to wipe off the couplings so that the new hose can fit on there nice and tight."

Blake grabbed the rag and reached down towards the couplings before hesitating. "So I just… wipe them off?"

Yang nodded. "Yup. No trick to it. Just give 'em a good wipe." Blake gave each coupling a thorough wiping before looking back to Yang expectantly. Yang nodded again, and Blake set the rag aside on the deck.

"Now, we stick the new hose on," Yang explained, reaching for it. "It's a bit longer than the old one, so it might put up a bit of a fight. I can take care of it, or you can give it a go. It's up to you."

And there it was again. That slight hesitation that happened whenever Yang let Blake make a decision. "Wh–whatever you think is best," Blake said quietly.

Yang smiled softly. "What _I_ think is best, is for it to be up to _you_."

Blake studied Yang's face for several moments, before finally asking, "I–is it okay if I try then?"

Yang nodded. "Of course it's okay, Blake." She handed off the hose and watched as Blake scooched forward until her hips sat at the edge of the hatch to give herself a better angle to work. All the shuffling around on her belly had caused Blake's shirt to ride up significantly, and Yang felt her face heating up as she watched the ravenette's muscles ripple under the soft skin of her stomach as she worked to keep herself steady. Then she saw the bandage that was still covering her wound, and anything she'd been feeling was instantly crushed under a heavy guilt. Blake _definitely_ wouldn't be comfortable with her staring right now. A brief string of curses snapped her mind back to the task at hand. "You okay there?" She asked, looking down at the back of Blake's head.

"Yeah," came the strained reply. "This thing's just being a real bitch to get on." 

"Need some help?"

"Absolutely not!" Blake replied indignantly, still wrestling with the hose. "I'm _not_ going to lose to this pathetic excuse for a _drinking straw!_ AHA!" With a triumphant yell, she pushed herself back up onto her stomach. "Take that, you boneless pipe!" She crowed.

Yang burst out laughing. It took a moment or two for her to steady herself, but when she did she was rewarded with the sight of Blake watching her while giggling behind a closed fist. It was a beautiful sound that made Yang's heart feel painfully overfull, but it was only for the briefest of moments, because almost immediately Blake's cheeks tinted pink and she turned her head away shyly.

Yang wanted to say something to reassure her, but she had no idea what to say or even if she should say anything at all, so instead she just coughed awkwardly and reached for the new hose clamps. "We, uh, we just need to screw these on and then check and make sure it isn't leaking anymore," she said.

Blake took the offered clamps. "Just… screw them on?" She asked.

Yang nodded. "Nice and snug, but not super tight. We don't want the hose to come off, but we also don't want the clamp to damage it. Make sure that the hose is pushed far enough up on the coupling that there's room for the entire clamp to sit past the ridge of the coupling, with a bit of extra hose left after the clamp."

"Okay." Blake paused, then grabbed the hose and grunted as she pushed the ends a bit further up on the couplings. Satisfied, she screwed on the hose clamps and offered the screwdriver to Yang. "Check my work?" She asked.

Yang leaned a bit further out and tested the hose clamp screws. "Perfect. I'm gonna go give the wheel a few spins. Stay here and check for leaks?"

Blake's head bobbed in acknowledgement and she quietly shuffled over to get a better viewing angle. Yang made her way back to the helm and took a firm grip on the wheel. "Ready?"

* * *

With the leak repaired, Yang had given Jaune and Pyrrha a number to contact the fiberglass repairman, collected her payment, and returned to _Bumblebee_ with Blake. The two of them were now sitting at the table with a stack of lien chips in front of them.

"So," Yang began, "about your first paycheck…"

Blake looked at her with a sudden nervousness. "What about it?" She asked anxiously.

"I want to give you extra," Yang explained. "Since you technically did all the work."

Blake let out a heavy sigh that was a mix of relief and resignment. "I couldn't have done it without you," she said, a hint of something almost like irritation in her voice. "I _won't_ take more than half." Her tone left no room for argument. 

Yang sighed and nodded. "You're right," she conceded. "I'm sorry for pushing."

Blake looked down at the table. "I know you mean well, but I _really_ don't like arguing with you about this stuff every time. It… it really stresses me out."

Yang felt a pang of guilt in her heart. "I understand," she said softly. "I won't do it again. I promise."

Blake relaxed a little. "Thank you."

Yang nodded and split the pile of lien chips down the middle. "Equals?" She asked, offering one half to Blake.

Blake accepted it with a smile. "Equals."


	12. Movie Night

Truthfully, Yang didn't actually put that much effort into her appearance most of the time. Her makeup was usually done quickly and easily, and even her massive mane of hair required surprisingly little attention. Well, _most_ days, at least. And yet, today, for no particular reason, and _certainly_ not because she was going to the movies with Blake in the afternoon, she decided to put extra care into doing her hair and makeup. She didn't change anything about her style, simply took extra time to make sure she executed it as flawlessly as possible. She also uprooted her closet looking for a pair of pants and a shirt that she _knew_ flattered her, and were just a _touch_ classier than her usual attire. She wasn't trying to impress anybody, of course. She just wanted to be pretty for herself. At least, that's what she told herself as she took her meds, appreciating the sweet taste of the blue pills as they dissolved under her tongue.

She heard the door to Blake's room open, and she looked up to see that she _also_ seemed to want to look nice today. Her hair was carefully brushed, a black bow covered her cat ears, her makeup seemed sharper than normal, and her purple shirt and black pants both fit her _quite_ well. Yang felt herself blushing a little as she took Blake in, and she could have sworn she saw Blake's eyes widen and look her up and down as well.

"I like your bow!" Yang blurted out. "It goes great with your…" _shit, what does it go great with??_ "Pants!"

Blake blushed a little as well, reaching up to rub the back of her neck nervously. "Thanks," she mumbled sheepishly. "You… look good."

Yang's cheeks felt like they were on fire. "Th-thanks!" She stammered. "I just… y'know… looked outside and saw what a lovely day it was—" she glanced outside one of the cabin windows, which very well could have been covered in gray paint if it weren't for the clear lines of the rigging visible against the threatening clouds "—and thought, 'why not dress up a bit?' Y'know?" The last word very nearly came out as an embarrassing squeak.

Blake's bow twitched as her ears tried to pin under it, and she crossed her arm over her chest, looking away and toeing the ground shyly. "Y-yeah. Yeah, same here."

"So, uh, what do you want to do today?" Yang asked, before quickly adding, "a-aside from going to the movies, I mean?"

Blake seemed to shrink a little. "Can we… can I just take some time to… relax?" She asked quietly. "I know it's been a few days since you… found me, but... this is all still so much." She hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry."

"Blake," Yang murmured softly. "Of course. You don't need my permission, and you have nothing to apologize for, okay?"

Blake nodded hesitantly. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just… bad dreams. Messing with me…"

Yang's expression softened further. "Do you want to talk about them?"

Blake shook her head. "Can you just… put on the TV? I need something to pay attention to."

Yang nodded. "Of course."

* * *

The morning and early afternoon passed by otherwise uneventfully. Blake spent much of it curled up on the couch, ears perked under her bow towards the TV but otherwise paying little attention as it played some meaningless game shows. Eventually, she started to perk up though, and by the time they needed to leave for the movies her energy had returned.

As they stepped out on the dock, they saw Weiss heading back from some errand. She waved at them and walked up, eyeing them with some suspicion. 

"You two are all dressed up. What's the occasion?"

"Just felt like it," Yang replied at the same time as Blake said "nothing in particular."

Weiss seemed unconvinced. "Well you two enjoy… whatever it is you're doing today. I need to get back to—"

"You look awesome, Blake!" Ruby called out, sticking her head out from _White Rose_ 's cabin door.

Blake blushed. "Thanks," she replied sheepishly.

Yang chuckled. "Don't let Penny hear that!" She called back.

"You– I don't– Shut up!" Ruby stammered, quickly retreating back inside.

Weiss took a moment to glare at Yang, cheeks flushed as well, before marching past with a "hmph" and stepping aboard _White Rose_.

"Who's Penny?" Blake asked as they began to walk down the docks.

Yang snorted. "Penny is Ruby's best friend and not-at-all-completely-gay-crush," she explained dryly. "She lives in Atlas but she visits every once in a while when she can."

Blake seemed a little surprised. "Wait, so are Ruby and Weiss not…?"

"'Nobody's anything'," Yang replied with air quotes, "At least, as all _three_ of them _repeatedly_ insist. Methinks the ladies do protest too much though."

Blake snickered.

"So, tell me about the movie," Yang said after a moment, wanting to keep the conversation going.

Blake snorted. "I thought you _loved_ horror movies."

"Doesn't mean I pay attention to every single one that comes out!" Yang whined.

"Fair enough," Blake conceded with a chuckle. "It's an adaptation of an old campfire tale that some believe to be true, about a group of travelers that encounter creatures that can drain people of their will to live. The travelers' names vary depending on who's telling the story, but the movie uses the most popular ones: Garnet Azalea, Rime Snow, Noir Nightshade, and Aurora Drake."

"So the creatures are just depression monsters," Yang offered.

"In a sense," Blake agreed. "But extreme. As in, literally-fall-asleep-and-never-wake-up sort of stuff."

Yang shrugged. "I mean, of all the ways to go…"

Blake shook her head. "No, imagine you _want_ to care about your life, but you _can't_ . You know if you fall asleep, you won't wake up, and you don't _want_ to let that happen, but you can't even bring yourself to fight it. It's not even that your body won't respond to your commands. Your own _mind_ won't respond to them. Like sleep paralysis, but for your _thoughts_ instead of your body."

A chill ran up Yang's spine. "Yeah, when you put it like that, I can see why it's a horror movie."

They remained in idle conversation for much of the walk to the theater, until they arrived at a poster for the movie on the side of a bus stop. It featured the main cast; a silver-eyed girl with short, black hair with red tips, a short, pale woman with icy blue eyes and long white hair, a cat faunus woman with black hair, olive skin, and amber eyes, and a tall blonde woman with lilac eyes and a lopsided smirk. The first two bore a passing resemblance to Ruby and Weiss, but the third was nearly uncanny.

"Hey," Yang uttered, stopping in front of the poster. "Noir Nightshade kind of looks like you!"

"Maybe a much prettier version of me," Blake replied quietly, bow drooping, though a blush tinted her cheeks.

"Nope. She's _your_ height and body type, has black hair and golden eyes, _your_ jawline, _your_ cheekbones, and the same cute lil' nose." To emphasize her point, she lightly booped Blake on the nose, giggling as the ravenette scrunched up her face comically. “If anything, _you’re_ a prettier version of _her_.”

Blake waved away the compliment, though Yang could see the flush on her cheeks darken. "Well, either way, she's a faunus in a horror movie, so we all know what'll happen to _her_."

Yang frowned. “You said this was based off an old tale, right? Does she die in that?”

“Not in any of the versions _I’ve_ heard,” Blake replied. “But I would _not_ be surprised if they took some ‘artistic license’ to ‘raise the stakes’.”

"I'll have a scathing Rotten Eggs review locked and loaded by the time the credits roll."

Blake hummed in response, still staring at the poster.

"What's got you all distracted?" Yang prodded.

Blake turned to her with a twinkle in her eye. "You know... Aurora Drake looks kind of like _you_."

Yang laughed, though she felt her cheeks darken ever so slightly. "Honestly? I can see it. Blonde, purple eyes… _killer_ rack," she added with a wink.

“Oh my gods…” Blake murmured, though it sounded more like a realization than a reaction.

“What?”

“We’re the faunus and the blonde.”

“Oh gods, you’re right," Yang laughed. "We’d be so screwed.”

"Who in your friend group would even _survive_ a horror movie?" Blake asked as they started walking again.

Yang thought for a bit before listing off on her fingers. “ _I'd_ only exist to be eye candy for the male audience, so of course I’d have to have a _shameless_ and _sexy_ crush on one of the—” she shuddered dramatically— “ _male leads_. Eugh. And because of that, I'd be the second to go, right after you. Nora's quirky and energetic, and Ren's calm and level-headed, but halfway through the script the writers realize that they haven't managed to make either of them interesting, so they kill them both off before the audience realizes it too. Weiss is the snobby rich girl, so she survives long enough for everybody to hate her and then gets, like, a _super_ gorey and satisfying death. Pyrrha _almost_ makes it, but she dies at the end to get a cheap emotional reaction from the audience. Which leaves Jaune and Ruby, who both survive, because Jaune would be the conventionally-attractive human male with the personality of a cardboard box and therefore automatically the main character, and Ruby because she's the naïve, innocent girl who has to be scarred for life by the horrifically traumatic events she's just experienced."

"You came up with all that on the spot?" Blake asked. "I'm impressed."

Yang stretched her arms up over her head, and she _may_ have puffed her chest out a bit too while she was at it. "Well, that's just what happens when you've seen tons of horror movies," she bluffed.

"Right, right," Blake replied with a nod, clearly not buying it. " _Or_ if you just have a passing knowledge of common horror movie stereotypes and tropes, which much of the population does."

"I suppose that could be true," Yang admitted, "but there's only one way to find out which it is! And that's to watch me absolutely _kill_ watching this movie."

Blake just huffed a laugh and rolled her eyes fondly.

* * *

Blake and Yang arrived at the theater and sat down smack in the center of the middle row. It was one of the last showings of the movie, so the theater itself was fairly empty. Yang reclined her seat and sprawled out, with Blake sitting relatively properly next to her, and grabbed a handful of popcorn that was almost too buttery for even _her_ tastes as the advertisements ended and the main feature began.

_The movie opens on the four leads trudging through a snowy forest. The audio fades into focus, as Noir speaks._

_"It's_ **_freezing_ ** _out here!"_

_"Well, we don't have much of a choice but to push on, now, do we Noir?" Rime snaps back._

_"Rime," Garnet chided. "It's not_ **_her_ ** _fault the train derailed."_

_"Garnet's right," Aurora agreed. "We can't afford to be at each other's throats."_

_The scene fades to a flashback of a stateroom in a train car. A dog barks outside of the door, and Noir leaps several feet into the air, hissing._

Several members of the audience laughed, but Yang just heard Blake sigh beside her.

"Of _course_."

Yang turned to see Blake glaring at the screen, clearly less than amused. "What?"

"The cat faunus is afraid of the dog."

"I always thought it was pretty common for cat faunus to dislike dogs," Yang mentioned carefully, a little confused.

"That's exactly it though!" Blake exclaimed, though she managed to keep her voice down. "Ignoring the inherent problems with assuming that an entire group of people all think the same way because they have certain physical traits in common, it is _technically_ true that a lot of cat faunus struggle to get along with dogs. But that's different from being _afraid_ of them. Some of us are, sure. Personally, I'm very nervous around dogs until I get to know them well, but I can usually make friends with enough time. But some of us react more with irritation. Or general disinterest. And some _love_ dogs! The stereotype that we're specifically _afraid_ of dogs is rooted in the idea that faunus should be submissive, and it's never, _ever_ used for anything other than cheap laughs at our expense. And _that's_ what makes that specific portrayal so problematic. We're so 'weak' and 'cowardly' that even house mutts are supposed to intimidate us. We're seen as 'below' even common pets."

Yang sucked in her breath through her teeth. "Yeah, when you put it that way… Yikes."

The movie continued as Garnet, Rime, Noir, and Aurora found refuge in an abandoned farmhouse, Rime and Aurora found a dead couple in the upstairs bedroom, and Noir and Aurora searched a shed for something to use to get out. Yang found herself vaguely recognizing the story beats; she must have heard the story during a late-night study session in college, or something like that.

_"Hey," Noir says softly, grasping Aurora's hand. "I'm not leaving. And if the Apathy find us, I promise I'll be there." Aurora looks at her with a painfully soft expression._

"Gay," Yang whispered into Blake's ear, drawing out a snort of amusement. It seemed the… _tension_ of the scene was not lost on her.

_"And I'll protect you."_

_Aurora's soft smile vanishes, her expression hardening. "What?"_

_Noir's expression changes to one of helpless confusion. "What?" She asks._

_Aurora pulls her hand away. "Forget it," she mutters._

_Noir reaches after her. "But what about—"_

_"We're_ **_fine_ ** _," Aurora cuts her off sharply. "We can take that tractor out of here in the morning."_

As the movie went on, Yang found herself only dimly paying attention to it. The story was easy enough to follow, and besides, there was someone far more interesting sitting next to her. In the flickering light of the theater screen, ears perked forward with rapt interest under her bow, which occasionally twitched as the feline ears beneath attempted to flick to the sides to catch stray sounds from the movie, Blake seemed even more beautiful than usual. 

However, as feelings that Yang was _not_ prepared to acknowledge stirred threateningly beneath the surface of her heart, she forced herself to look away and pay attention to the movie. The four girls were wandering through the tunnels underneath the farmhouse. Yang wasn't sure exactly why they were there, but she wasn't terribly invested anyways.

_Garnet runs forward, disappearing around a corner. A moment later, her high pitched scream echoes off the walls of the tunnels, sounding so much like Ruby that Yang is instantly put on high alert. She reappears, the Apathy lumbering after her; tall, lanky creatures with skull-like heads, needly legs, and long, taloned claws for hands. Their shriek echoes through the room, and the four girls wilt, falling to their knees as their eyes gloss over._

_They fight to get back to their feet, and push onwards. The Apathy are slow, but every time the girls manage to put some distance between them, another shriek puts them on the ground, allowing them to slowly catch up. The girls arrive at a cellar, with a bulkhead in the ceiling being the only source of light. Aurora races up the stairs to get to it, with Rime close at her tail. Noir, though, with her sensitive hearing, is falling behind._

_Aurora struggles with the bulkhead, before another shriek causes her to collapse. "No," she cries, reaching out as the bulkhead seems to stretch further and further away. "No!"_

_At the back, Noir has collapsed onto her side, eyes glazed over and empty. The Apathy leer over her, long claws tickling at her flank._

_"Noir…" Garnet says, her voice strained with the effort of speaking. "Get… up…"_

_"It's fine…" Noir mumbles, her eyes glazed over and empty._

_Aurora, Rime, and Garnet watch helplessly, unable to help or even care as their friend is—_

"Yep. This is where it happens."

Yang jumped a little, her immersion broken by Blake's quiet remark. She became aware of her left hand shaking slightly, and she wiped at her brow as a bead of sweat dripped into her eyes. She was safe. It was just a movie.

"Thanks," she said quietly. She turned back to the screen to find that the heroes had somehow escaped the Apathy's clutches, and miraculously Noir was still with them.

_Aurora punches the bulkhead open and the four girls rush out into… the wine cellar of the house where it all started, with the Apathy close behind._

_"We're back in the house?!" Noir exclaims, freezing in place._

_"We need to_ **_go_ ** _!" Garnet calls out as Aurora grabs Noir's hand and leads her upstairs._

_"Not yet," Rime says, half to herself. Thinking quickly, she begins to throw bottle after bottle of alcohol at the cellar entrance, only stopping when the Apathy begin to appear from inside. With a scream of effort, she throws a vial of red fire dust at the pool of alcohol on the floor, and instantly the entire bulkhead goes up in flames._

_The fire spreads quickly, bathing the entire room in a scalding, flickering glow. The sound of the crackling wood and the shrieking Apathy rip through Yang's body, and the smoke on screen is so thick it's almost suffocating her—_

Yang jumped again when she felt a hand gently grab her own, and turned to see Blake looking at her worriedly. "Hey," the ravenette asked. "You okay?" Another shriek echoes through the theater, and Yang sees Blake wince, her bow pulling flat a little against the grating sound. These speakers clearly weren't tuned with sensitive hearing in mind.

"Yeah," Yang replied with a nod, though she tightened her grip on Blake's hand. "The movie's just got me a little spooked I guess."

"We can leave if you want," Blake offered, but Yang just shook her head.

"I'm fine. Really. After all," she gave Blake's hand a small squeeze and winked, "I've got you here."

It could have been the light from the screen, but Blake's cheeks seemed to grow a little warmer as she lightly swatted at Yang's shoulder.

As the movie came to a close, Yang was rather surprised to find that all four girls had made it. She couldn't say that she _enjoyed_ the movie, though that spoke more to the constitution of her character than the quality of the movie itself, but having Blake there to keep her grounded made it tolerable, and overall she considered it time well spent. She turned to Blake, who for her part had a smile on her face as well, as they left the theater.

"So…"

"So…" Blake replied.

They stared at each other for a moment before both blurting out at the same time.

"Noir and Aurora are _totally_ a thing, right?!"

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you want to see! Your feedback is a big part of what keeps me motivated!
> 
> Also, feel free to check out my tumblr,  
> https://bmblb-trash.tumblr.com/  
> I reblog a fair bit of bumbleby content, and I'll also be posting occasional updates on my progress with this fic! And, once in a while, I might even post an early teaser excerpt from an upcoming chapter, so keep your eyes peeled!


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